The Distance Formula
by WishStone
Summary: Inspired by the marvelous "The Shortest Distance from A to B"; this story is written from the perspective of Naoto Shirogane. It starts for Naoto with being send to Inaba to assist with a possible serial killer, so a bit before "Shortest Distance". PLEASE NOTE: Contains all possible spoilers. Do not read if you have not yet played Persona 4 / Golden or if you are still playing.
1. Chapter 1

_Well, here I go. This story i directly inspired by "The Shortest Distance from A to B". I really tried to find the author before I started to publish this work, however, I was unable to make contact. So, zero_damage, sorry for not making contact with you before I started on this._

 _If you have not yet played Persona 4 / Persona 4 Golden, please do yourself the service to hit up the PlayStation Store and buy it. It's about 10 bucks right now and absolutely worth it. This story, as well as Shortest Distance contain MASSIVE spoilers, and the game is really too good to allow that to happen. So, scoot, go play it. A regular play-through is anything from 40 to 80 hours._

 _Anyone else, you know the deal: Spoilers coming up, if you didn't guess already, right from the start._

 _If you have (for reasons unknown to me) not yet read zero_damage's Shortest Distance, please do, you'll find it here on FFN._

 _Of course: The_ _Shin Megami Tensei-Series and the Persona-Series are the property of Atlus; I'm just playing with your toys._

* * *

 **May 4th, 2011**

"I have no time to play babysitter!" the graying detective snapped quietly at his supervisor.

 _Not even looking at me_ , Naoto noticed. "I assure you, Detective Dojima-san," she interjected in a low, steady voice, "I will not require you to look after me. I have addressed many similar cases already and find that most police stations have similar filing systems and internal layout. All I do need from you, is to simply co-"

She stopped as the man jumped up, grabbed a stack of files and dropped them roughly on the desk beside which she stood. "I already had to spend the last three days creating this ridiculous overview that you had requested from my bosses. Do you even realize this is Golden Week and I should be with my daughter right now?" He turned his attention back to his supervisor almost at once.

Naoto hadn't moved while he shouted at her. Was this man's concern really about some time off, when there possibly was serial killer in his town? The best thing to do right now, is to simply wait out till the man was more rational again. There was no reason to address him or to react to his emotional state. His outburst none withstanding; she was pleased at the size of the stack of papers he had prepared. The sooner he would finish with his tirade, the sooner she could do what she had been called in for. Right now, she would wait while his supervisor finished the conversation and left them.

She watched as the anger in his bearing had simmered down a bit and the ranting had finally ceased. "They told me you're cold as ice," he muttered, finally looking at her. "Okay, listen. We prepared one of the interview rooms for you. There is a small cot in there, too – we heard what went down in Kyoto and frankly don't want to walk in one some kid sleeping on the floor here."

 _What? How had he-_ no, no she would not do this. A flaring temper was not what was needed right now. The first day was crucial in establishing herself and if this meant ignoring irritations, well, that would simply have to be.

"So far it seems like that will not be needed, Dojima-san. Your colleagues in Kyoto had left vital information out of their reports and staying late hours was vital for the case." Firmly placing a hand on the stack of papers without moving her eyes away from his, she said "Right now, you seem well prepared. I am looking forward to working with you." Be in command of the situation. Show you will not be pushed.

Whatever it was he had wanted to say in reply ran into an inaudible murmur as he turned and simply waved his hand to beckon her to follow him. With a deep breath she squared her shoulders, picked up the stack of folders, and followed the older detective down the hallway.

Glancing about, walking at her measured wide, crisp step, Naoto eyed the dim hallway from under her cap. Nothing about it felt remarkable to her. A typical small-town police station. A few flyers, some public service posters and clip boards beside a door now and again. A break room door stood open, showing a few officers filling out paperwork while holding on to paper coffee cups.

Her guide stopped beside a door, opened it and pointed inside with a court nod.

"Thank you, Dojima-san", she said with a small bow, "I will do my best to avoid troubling you." He scuffed his cheek, grunted, and marched off, fishing for the packet of cigarettes in his shirt pocket.

She turned to look back inside the room. A table, two chairs, a bed with a rough blanket, a small desk against the wall, a chest of drawers and a TV standing on it. She even had a big cork pin board available. Compared to some corners she had been pushed into, this was outstanding in terms of comfort and usefulness. Not that she needed comfort. She had been called in for a very straight-forward job. Track down a killer who had a surprisingly public call sign. Hanging people upside down from high places. That the local police had such issues tracking the matter was incomprehensible to her.

Naoto closed the door and selected the chair facing the door as she sat down. Sitting with your back to the door could mean someone sneaking up or watching over her shoulder after they enter. Avoiding anything that could put her into a weakened position was second nature to her.

Let's start by sorting these papers into smaller stacks. Being organized is the best way to tackle any workload and getting acquainted with the case in installments would help her follow the trail left behind by her perpetrator.

First, putting aside all folders regarding the second found body. Going by the assumption that each murder was just that, stand-alone and not a suicide or a cult would help to not fall for any pre-conceived notions about what should be there or what was too obvious to investigate. She pushed the papers to the far left side of the table. br

On the far right, she placed the folder containing the description of the first crime scene. Left of that, the autopsy file. Left again, overlapping the folders of each of the interviewed witnesses. And to the left of _that_ she placed all other folders which held the file number this case had been assigned.

She stopped to look at the identifier of the case.

"#HC129-DR/AT. Hm." She paused a moment. Had this office really less than two hundred cases of unnatural death since they started their filing system? This certainly was a rural area.

* * *

Seven hours later the room had turned into a typical Shirogane work space.

Naoto was surrounded by a number of reference books about the local area; reports of related crimes in a 50-kilometer radius; folders with copies of previously unsolved cases in Inaba; and the stack of the second murder's folders on the desk by the door at this point.

Her finger trailed over the map on the cork wall showing the two crime scenes; comparing her notes with copies of the documents she had pinned near the locations. Had the staff here not done such basic visualization to compare the locations of the crime scenes? Ridiculous. They possibly had done so, but gave up too soon. Taking their own maps and references down before closing up the case was simply showing their general disregard for the case.

The door opened, and, she noticed with a flash of indignation, without a knock again. Dojima-san was back. He had stopped by a total of four times now. Each time he became more aggravated, but what his upset was he did not say or even hint at. Naoto dismissed it as his mood simply being dour.

"Listen, Shirogane, its past midnight now. I'll head home."

Not looking up from her folder containing the statements of witnesses, she nodded, barely hearing the man. His whereabouts did not matter right now. Getting acquainted with the case and locale however did.

He stood silent in the open doorway and waited.

He will not go until I actually address him. Small talk. Naoto turned away from the map and nodded at him once more. "Yes, very well, Detective. I will be available to you in the morning." He really was fussing. Possibly the problem was her height. The detective just about towered over her. Staying a few steps away from him was possibly advisable, to minimize the appearance of the height difference.

His mouth twisted in a wry manner. "Listen, son, you'll miss the last bus. Want me to drive you someplace? Are you staying at a hotel?"

"Your concern is misplaced, Dojima-san. I am quite capable of arranging my own transportation, should I need to."

The older man rolled his eyes, flapping one arm in annoyance. "Okay. Fine. Goodnight." He pulled the door shut and vanished down the hallway.

Naoto arched an eyebrow at the closed door. Just once it would be nice to have someone overlook her age or height and instead see her current track record. How many more cases would she have to solve before people stopped feeling she was helpless or incompetent?

She placed down her notes to stretch out and her chest felt tight as she did so. Naoto took off her cap to run her hand through her short hair. The collection of evidence in the first case had not covered enough ground. Not to the mention lack of searching the ground around the site. An elaborate placement of the corpse, such as this, should have left unmistakable tracks. Sunken foot prints from carrying the corpse; traces of tools used, witness reports from the people living in the surrounding area. Yet, nothing.

At least so far she had made good progress. Small town or not, the records Dojima-san was keeping were outstanding. Some other paperwork filed by one Adachi had left much to be desired, especially when it came to witness protocol, but so far she had been able to navigate the files without wasting too much time on reference material.

The most pressing question however became this: More caffeine or some sleep?

She placed her cap down beside another folder of papers and pulled her note book closer. No need to stay up too long, her mental faculties would only suffer. She would just quickly finish up the notes for the day and then walk to the apartment Grampa had organized. Late-night walks helped her sort through what she read, something she had learned early in her life while taking walks in the garden of the estate.

Putting the folders back in order and adding copies of pages to her own brief case, she walked out, locked up her 'office' and left for the apartment. Nothing so far stumped her, except maybe the lack of competence when it came to securing evidence. All things considered, she felt she would find the solution without problem. Yes, this case would not take long at all.

* * *

 **May 5th, 2011**

When Naoto had returned the next morning, she found herself lost in the notes from the previous day within minutes of sitting down. She stirred her coffee with her left hand while flicking back and forth through the papers in front of her.

No one had seen Mayumi Yamano for a few days before she was found dead. The staff at the Amagi Inn had been very specific about this, stating that each time they came to ensure their guest was comfortable, they found she had either left or not yet returned to her rooms. She had not taken any meals at the inn. She had also not been seen outside the inn, either.

Unsurprising, really, as she had been taking time away from the public due to the news reports of her affair. She had fully counted on the discreetness of the inns staff. Naoto did not much care about the news that had led to the reclusion of Miss Yamano in the sense of how the victim may have dealt with it, so long as it was not a case of suicide or directly connected to the murder.

So was it jealousy after all? Unlikely. All involved parties in the love triangle seemed to have not been in contact throughout the recent weeks. Both Taro Namatame and Misuzu Hiiragi had not been in direct communication since their separation. They also had separate, solid alibi. When Miss Yamano had withdrawn to the Amagi Inn, none of the involved parties had spoken to one another in days.

Naoto frowned, her spoon stopping for a moment. This leads us back to her having left… But if Mayumi Yamano's aim was to be in retreat, then why would she have left the inn? Leaving the premises would expose her to unwanted attention, so going out for dinner would not have been desirable in her situation.

Lost in thought she sipped her coffee and shuddered. It had grown cold and bitter while she had been reading. Had that much time passed already? Surely not, she had only recently arrived and started to review her own case notes...

Her watch buzzed softly, vibrating against her wrist. It was now nine in the morning. Two hours. She had already been here for two hours. And had not found out anything new yet! Re-reading what she had noted down from the first case was too early, it seemed. She bit off a frustrated sigh and got up to get some more coffee.

It was encouraging to see the station already being well staffed at this time of the morning. She nodded to any officer who greeted her. Stopping to talk to them would be fruitless however, she did not yet know which questions to ask, so her path was straight to the kitchen to refill her cup and return to work.

Closing the door behind her, she sat back down, putting the cup aside for now. Something seemed missing, and as much as she wanted to move on, it bothered her. Miss Yamano's movements did not add up. No one had seen her leave the inn, she had not mentioned any desire to explore the countryside. There was no mention of any visitors, letters left with the concierge or phone calls placed for her. Neither had she made any calls or send any letters through the staff. No taxi or limousine had been called in for her – Naoto had checked up on that yesterday herself, as the police seemed to have forgotten to.

She stood and stepped over to her map. The inn was on the outskirts of town, but not exactly far from any roads, street lights or other houses. Had she been taken by force, she would have been needed to be kept quiet – or was already dead at the time. However, forensics had not found any sign of forced entry, struggle or even a violent act against Miss Yamano in her room or any of the secluded areas of the inn and springs.

Turning her back to the wall, she leaned up against it. Tucking her cap down by habit with her left hand, her right flipped through some pages in her note book. Reviewing the notes on the interviewed parties, all accounts spoke of Yamano as being stressed – some members of the Amagi staff even said she had been rude to her hosts. Unusual, for a public figure. Also unusual for a woman who was used to host live broadcasts, to react badly to stress.

Naoto walked back to the desk and picked up her cup. Maybe I am overthinking this right now. She felt she could not summarize any more data on the first victim, so the next step in her investigation would be the second murder. Clearing off the table, she swapped the stacks of files. Time to look into the second murder in detail.


	2. Chapter 2

_Whoop, hit publish too early on this one, sorry all. Seeing I had this one finished already, I decided I might as well light it up, too_ _._

 _Also, apologies for tinkering so much with my published stories. Part of why I never published my works is the bad habit of never putting the pencil down..._

* * *

 **May 10th, 2011**

Perhaps praising Dojima-san for the amount of data he had gathered for her on her first day had been a mistake.

Her progress had turned out to be frustratingly slow, as the material provided had not resulted in the quick summary she had hoped for. After nearly a week in Inaba, Naoto was still working on covering the basics of the investigation so far.

While there was an impressive amount of collected notes and information, she found a lot of it lacking; in some cases even fully missing from the police files. Especially the interviews conducted were unsatisfying. Naoto pushed her cap up with her pen, absently chewing on her lip as she poured over the interviews once more. This time she had ordered the interview files by case and conduction time.

First up. Saki Konishi, witness due to being the first person to report the body of Mayumi Yamano – and then the second victim. She was interviewed more than once – quite possibly because she was first interviewed while in shock. She had not been able to tell them too much, Naoto knew. When Miss Konishi had discovered the scene, the body had been at the location for several hours already. Still, Adachi-san must have thought her knowing more. He kept going back to interview her.

Second. Keiko Tsunaku, resident at the first murder location. She had not contributed much, either. All Naoto had gathered from her was that she had been sleep, had not noticed anything during the night and had rushed on the street when she heard Miss Konishi cry out.

Naoto stood up and stretched out, turning over the folder stack. Third. One of the police officers. First officer at the scene of Miss Yamano's body. Practically all he had done, being a regular patrol officer, was secure the scene and the names of witnesses. Again, not much to take from this one.

Fourth. Five different staff members at the Amagi Inn. Two chefs, two of the servant staff and the manager, Miss Amagi. These had been surprisingly well documented and succinct. These had not given her the leads she needed, either.

Sitting back down, Naoto pulled her coffee cup closer and sipped, flipping through the Amagi-interviews once more. _Look at the questions. See what is missing. Find the questions you would have asked…_ Though much to her own annoyance, they did ask the questions she would have. Aside from the stressed nature of their guest, the staff at the inn had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. Reading through it all again would be a waste of time. Close the document, move on.

Fifth. Telephone interview of Misuzu Hiiragi, on tour at the time. This file had both a typed copy and a recording attached. Miss Hiiragi sounded bored, her answers were brief and she generally seems to not even care if her husband-in-separation was a suspect in a murder case or not.

Moving on. Sixth. Taro Namatame, husband of Misuzu Hiiragi, separated. Now this was interesting. A new interview had been conducted after the first, but the filing had been sloppy and the first interview looked very much out of context. She flipped back to the front page and checked the officers name. _But of course_. Adachi was the one who worked on it.

Naoto was not sure she could make herself think highly of Adachi-san. Yes, he was young, certainly. This was his first assignment since graduation from the police academy, Dojima-san had pointed out when she voiced her frustration. That, and that it wasn't any of _some kids'_ business. But would a young officer just out of the school simply not remember basic filing principles? She kept seeing his work and kept thinking it was of poor quality overall. As things currently stood, time would be better spend working on her case. She had not been requested to work on raising the efficiency of the staff at this office, so for now this would have to remain a thing to keep in the back of her mind.

Interview seven and eight in the time line of interviews. Two of Miss Yamano's coworkers at the TV station. Naoto had had high hopes for these two, but following up was only a matter of a few phone calls to find it had mainly been useless gossip.

And that was it. How? This was already it? Really, how did they stop their investigations at that point? No notes on what other interviews were conducted, either. How was anyone to piece together an understanding from such poor record-keeping?

The second set of interviews had been even less promising. Immediate family, local residents near the site. All in all, only five interviews had been conducted. Ridiculous! That could not possibly been all available information that had been there to secure or locate.

She stood back up and walked to her map on the wall.

The first victim being not from Inaba had seemed important at first. In any community, strangers are often targeted. Be that due to their looks, behavior or simply by not feeling as secure in a space that they are new to. The more she read however, Inaba seemed too quiet and idyllic to invite the type of aggression that is found in bigger cities directed at outsiders.

Naoto turned, resting her back against the wall, tugging down her cap. Her hand remained raised, her eyes glancing without focus on the grayish-brown floor covering. Murder always had a connection to either strong emotion or to utter lack of emotion. Jealousy, rage, fear on one side; lack of empathy, mental illness or the dubious profession of assassin on the other. Due to the prominent location of the victim, paired with the elaborate placement of the body, murder was the only logical conclusion however.

And then there was the second victim.

Someone knocked.

"Yes, enter." Naoto pushed herself off the wall, squared her shoulders and stood up straight to meet the eyes of one of the officers who was now poking his head in.

"Hey, Shirogane, you wanted these copies of the last interview conducted about that Konishi-issue?"

"The murder, yes. Have you finished pulling my latest set of requests, officer?"

The man nodded, plopped three slim folders on the desk by the door, gave a mock-salute and turned to leave, pulling the door shut. Naoto's eyes narrowed at the smirk the man had on his face as he left. Sure, her progress had been slow this time around, but openly _mocking_ her? She needed a fresh lead, and soon, to stem that kind of behavior.

Saki Konishi was a local, unlike Miss Yamano. Naoto had high hopes for the information in her case being much more cohesive and meaningful. That it had turned out to be so meager was both confusing and worrying.

Until now, she had also not been able to link anything aside from Miss Konishi having been the first on the scene of the first murder. She had had no contact with Miss Yamano. Nothing else seemed to connect them, if she went by the information presented to her so far.

Frankly, it was not possible. Inaba was a very small town. She knew it already well enough to no longer need to pay attention when walking to her apartment or stopping by any of the local shops for a bite to eat. How could, in such a small community, one of the locals be murdered and nothing tied them back to anyone else?

She walked over to the desk against the wall and picked up the new stack of papers she had been provided. If nothing else, this could be the next piece she was missing from her puzzle. Sitting back down at the table, she opened the files and started to browse.

In general, the crime around the shopping district was very low-key. A snatched purse, a missing mobile phone. A few years ago, someone had vandalized the shrine. Seriously, who'd come up with taking their boredom out on an already run-down shrine? Pitiful.

But aside from this normal level of vandalism and thievery, nothing else stood out. The bulk of the unnatural deaths in Inaba seemed to be car accidents, accidental drowning (' _Quite likely unsupervised children, if the water level of the Samagawa was any indication')_ and less than a dozen accidents due to food allergies; the last of which had been over a decade ago. Actual murder happened about ten times - in over eighty years.

All in all, this town didn't seem the place that breed murderers. And since they had started with a foreign element, Miss Yamano, the chances were that she had inadvertently brought the murderer with her. So what was it? A crazed fan? A stalker? Someone yet to identify, or indeed someone she had overlooked so far?

Pushing her cap back with the marker she used to highlight sections in the new reports, she continued to browse her new material.

* * *

Her cap on her chest, booted feet dangling off the end of the bed, Naoto lay on the cot in her temporary office at the Inaba police station. She wasn't frowning at the ceiling. She was simply concentrating, that's all. No matter what Dojima-san had just said, she wasn't being 'difficult'. She was, however, _concerned_.

Something was missing. Something big. Whatever it was, Naoto was certain that the moment she'd spot it, it would be obvious. The thought that she could already be overlooking a vital detail gnawed on her. After several days of reading reports, interviews, studying case files and maps she had not yet found a new lead that the police had missed so far. Why? How could a murderer with such a bold call card not be easier to track?

She caught the corner of her lip between her teeth, her eyes glazed, her mind sorting through the data she had absorbed so far.

If we assume that the murderer had killed Konishi because she could have provided witness against him (or her!), why did her perpetrator again take the risk of using the very elaborate call card when placing out the body? According to any of the local reports, the cult of Nyx which had been an issue a few years ago, had never taken on strongly in Inaba, and that was the last known great cult activity. If we search into smaller religious sects, there are simply none on any government radar right now. Maybe checking with the younger population of the city could help.

Or maybe she was procrastinating from finding the true causes.

Swinging her legs off the cot she sat up – and looked across the room at the map. Absent-minded she pulled her cap back on her head and walked to it.

She had taken care to colour-code the locations of the murders, the interview partners, where they lived, where they had been talked to.

Without looking, she pulled one of the needles with the blue flag, the Konishi-colour, from the side of the cork board. After eyeing the map for a moment, Naoto used it to follow the line from the site of her murder to her home. It was not a direct path at all. _Strange_. The needle returned and tried to connect Junes, her place of employment, and her home in the shopping district. Again, Konishi would not have ended up where she was found. The route was a considerable detour.

Naoto's not-frown deepened as she pushed the tip of the needle back to the site of Konishi's body. Junes. Her home. Her school. None of these had been on-route. In fact, these rice fields were out of all of Saki Konishi's standard pathways.

She pushed the pin back to the far side of the map, turned and picked her coat up from the back of her chair. The basics were covered. It was now time for her to get to the groundwork – sightings of the locale and on-hands investigation of the case.

Not that she would easily show it to the outside world, but in a small space inside her chest she felt excitement. As she had so often read as a child " _The game is afoot!_ " and she very much took pleasure in the part that would come next for her. Filling in all those gaps she felt had been left by the police as she read reports and took notes the previous days.

Right now the questions that interested her the most were these: What, aside from the call sign, connected these two murders? What is there to know about Konishi as a student, as a sister, daughter and as a coworker and neighbor? Miss Yamano's life was quite public, but Miss Konishi attended the local high school. Also, not to forget, finding new people to talk to about the case would be a top priority. Surely the few interviews that had been conducted were a good start to the investigation, but they had barely touched the surface just as surely.

Naoto left the station, pulled her collar up with both hands, tucked her cap down and set out to finally take control of this investigation.

* * *

 **May 13th, 2011**

' _Politeness. Politeness was key here_ ', she reminded herself. Glaring at the utterly disinterested officer would not speed up his phone conversation or make him wish to assist her with her inquiry. Folding her hands behind her back, she settled in to wait. Standing right beside the desk of the officer. Let him think she felt like eavesdropping, maybe it would finally make him hang up.

As frustrating as these stops in her working routine were, they were still understandable. After all, she was only a private consultant, even if she had the Shirogane name to herself, and civilians simply could not be trusted to walk in and out of sensitive areas on their own liking.

However, sometimes it was simply irritating to wait for access to something she required. Just how long _could_ one repeat "…huh!" and "…Oh, really?" before the other side deemed it would be time to move on and spending their day better? This is why she hated phones. Even text messages to a point. She only send the bare minimum in her messages, to make sure she would not waste her own time, or the time of the recipient.

When the man finally gave her a resigned look and finished up his call, Naoto had noted down two other pieces of information she wanted to review. 'I guess waiting for him to conclude his conversation was not fully wasted time after all.'

"Whattaya need, sonny?" Why did _he_ sound resigned? She had been the one waiting!

"Shirogane. And I would like to request your files on one…" she confirmed with her notes, "Tatsumi, Kanji."

The officer looked surprised. "Really? The Tatsumi kid? Why on earth?"

"There are some unanswered questions concerning his recent movements."

The man shrugged, got up, and entered some queries into a computer standing higher up on a counter. "I know he's a rough kid, but I am not sure he's a killer, you know? I'm just saying, you'll be out wasting your time."

Naoto's jaw clenched, but she kept her face as passive as she could. This, too, simply happened way too often. 'Oh, it could not be such-and-such', 'that's why we never even investigated them fully', or, 'No, that person is right out, we cannot investigate them' – usually because of some political reason. Out of her 24 cases she solved on her own, six alone she needed to keep digging for answers and _then_ keep hunting for someone who would finally listen to her and take action. It was tiresome and delayed work needlessly.

"You concern for my time is noted, officer" she said firmly, "but I was asked to investigate all of the case, and Kanji Tatsumi was seen several times speaking to members of the Konishi family. Not speaking to him would be a crass oversight."

The officer's narrowed eyes shot her a glance from behind the computer before muttering something inaudible.

"I would also like to…" she checked her notes, "…to learn more about the Konishi liquor store. The notes concerning Miss Konishi's interview are confusing and not kept to standard formatting style, so I have problems reading some of the details. Were there any other files that may not have been added to this case?"

The officer glared at his monitor and shrugged mutely.

Naoto settled in to wait for the officer to pull up the needed information and produce a copy for her.

Silences did not bother her. She had learned to use the advantages of prolonged silence for her own use early in life. Why try to fill silence with any verbal communication, when simply observing those around you? There was simply no need to take any action against the absence of verbal communication. Indeed, people spoke too much and said too little as it is.

Naoto kept her neutral expression in place deliberately as she turned to look back into her note pad. Both the Tatsumi family and the Konishis were shop owners in what is known as the old shopping district. How closely linked would these families be? Indeed, how did any of the local shop owners interact with one another here in Inaba? She added another note on her page marked Inquiries.

"All right. Printing your copy."

"Excellent", she replied without looking up, "thank you for your assistance, officer."

Walking from one end of the shopping district to the other should give her a better idea about the social and fiscal situations of the persons involved. Miss Yamano also stayed at a local business. Another note to add: What are the connections between the Amagi Inn and the Konishi Liquor store? If the murders were this elaborate to pull the police on a wrong track, then an investigation into the economic stability of the privately owned business in Inaba might be called for.

She only looked up when a stack of papers was slapped on the counter before her. The officer had turned away with a deep frown and without any further words. He possibly was just busy. No need to take his reaction to heart.

Gathering up the surprisingly thick folder on the Tatsumi youth, Naoto returned to her temporary office.

By now, she had fully given up on interactions with any of the officers. None aside from Dojima-san and Adachi-san had worked directly with the case and the autopsies had been conducted by a medical examiner at the local hospital. Inaba was simply too small to have their own official police team for this. She could learn nothing new from the other officers and as such, interaction with them would only be small talk. An unnecessary activity that would simply distract her from her work.

Pulling off her cap and running a hand through her short hair briefly, Naoto closed the door. Knowing that the police had skipped looking into this young man was promising. She felt she was about to get her first real break in the case.


	3. Chapter 3

_Oh my, I did not expect to get so much response so quickly. Okay, one more, but then I'll really need a week or so to get my creative juices gathered._

 _I've gotten the feedback already that my grammar is off now and again. I'm not actually a native, so if you find something iffy, please let me know, I'll address what I can._

 _Also, thanks for the general encouragement of persons whose names I do not know here on FFN._

 _Finally: Sorry for tinkering with my uploads. When re-reading my story later in the day, I keep finding that one phrase I want changed, or that one mistake I'll be able to quickly fix..._ _I'm simply bad at putting the pencil down._

* * *

 **May 14th, 2011**

Sitting cross-legged on the floor in her apartment's living room, surrounded by a pile of papers, notes, and photographs, Naoto allowed herself a pleased nod. Finally, the matter started to take on shape. The confusion she had felt about the case this far was lifting.

After reading the police reports on Tatsumi, she had identified the heart of Inaba was still the shopping district, regardless of the many times she had been told it was dead, wasted space and useless since Junes now held everything. Why she still wasted time listening to such rumors … well, in this case the why was apparent. She had nothing else to go on at first. An entire week, wasted by mediocre record-keeping and poor investigative skills.

This _was_ the countryside. People took pride in certain traditional concepts and the Junes chain simply did not cater to many of these needs – perceived or other as they may be. By this very nature she had quickly uncovered a tight net of friendly personal and commercial relations between the inn and a number of the local stores.

Naoto chewed absent-minded on the last (and now-cold) bite of takoyaki she had picked up from the Junes food court on her way home. She had never taken much note of the complex workings of any small town's economics, but having puzzled together the network with the help of some guides from books and online sources, she found them to be nearly as fascinating as the case itself.

Before her on the floor was an enlarged map of what was still known to the locals as the 'main shopping district'. Detailed records on each store and their inventory had been added to her notebook and she had carefully written copies of the bigger points on small post-it notes which she placed near the relevant stores. Having long since memorized each of the highlight-marker drawn arrows, she used the late evening to glance over the map and notes once more before returning to another full-day observation tomorrow.

The plan for the next day was to note down the regular shoppers of the stores, overall patronage, and finalize her observations before she would move on to the next step of interviews she intended to conduct.

She needed to consult Kanji Tatsumi. According to his files, he could be a valuable lead to a number of different sources of information – or provide said information himself. He was known to the police as being involved in the local gangs; he was seen talking to several members of the Konishi family and he might be her proverbial foot in the door to a new direction in her inquiries.

Hopefully one of these leads could loop her right back to the Amagi Inn. It was imperative to investigate the scene but so far she had not been granted any access. As such, finding another way to gain entry would need to be found – and Naoto felt that the shopping district was her entry point.

The inn had regular business with the local liquor store, the textiles and tailoring business, the sundries _and_ tofu shop. It was not quite to the extent that the inn kept these businesses afloat, but having a steady income from one of the traditional torch-bearers of the community certainly helped. Buying from a reputable store, which did frequent business with a well-respected traditional inn. There were always people who took part of their self-worth from the goods they buy, where they purchase these goods, and the knowledge that others would see them do so. Buying something, even if it is more expensive, could lift their own felt status or morale.

Other stores that could not cater to these tastes – or the sheer feeling of exclusiveness - had gone under. A DVD and computer games rental. A pharmacy. A fruit and vegetable vendor. A hobby store. A florist. Had these stores been able to find out how to stimulate that 'exclusive' feeling that their patrons looked for they could have managed to find a way to stay in business.

That, or simply offer things Junes did not carry.

At the super-store there was no section for traditional medicine. Their selection on books and manga was almost microscopic. And while they had their own liquor section, she had since learned that some local sake breweries refused to deal with Junes.

It would be easy to approach a number of these stores herself. Marukyu had been providing more than one to-go meal in the last week, so asking casual questions would be very straightforward. She would simply be considered a regular customer by now, and local shop keepers often were flush with rumor.

Entering the liquor store as a minor was out of the question, of course, but she needed a more delicate way to initiate any contact with the Konishi family anyhow.

The textiles store could prove a little trickier. She could find some flaw with her garments or create one if she needed a reason to engage their services. However, she needed to avoid being sized by anyone at the store, and seeing the general setup of the store being very classical, chances were that that could not be avoided without seeming suspicious.

She shook her head, licked the skewer and picked up a few bonito flakes from the tray with it.

No, overall any approach of the Tatsumis should be handled very carefully. The risk of being noticed was simply too great. Her experience had made it very clear that her daily masquerade was necessary to ensure her to be able to continue in line of the Shirogane vocation. Thankfully the weather absolutely allowed for her large coat. Unwanted attention to her figure, or questions related to the very male name Naoto and her use of the masculine speech patterns, deeper voice and similar uncomfortable situations would be easily avoided.

Yet, without an examination of the accounts of the Tatsumi family a new break-through seemed unlikely. Naoto pulled the stack of copies labeled "Tatsumi, K." on her lap and flipped through the pages slowly, nibbling absent-minded on the slim piece of bamboo.

The younger Tatsumi had a poor attendance record at school. He had been escorted to class by officers more than once in the last school year. It begged the question if this meant he helped out at the family store, or if he simply was the delinquent that his police file indicated him to be. If he was, perhaps careful planning for her observations of the Tatsumi household as well as possibly questioning Kanji Tatsumi would need to be taken.

Also, a slight jog to direct the young man back to school should be helpful. She needed him in many ways and if he was not joining school, his chances of gathering rumor through that avenue was cut short. Teenagers often brimmed with rumor. Stories about neighbors, friends, perceived foes… and she had no means to tap any it yet.

Naoto suddenly realized that she had been sitting still, staring at the notes surrounding the Tatsumi textile shop, and drumming the takoyaki-skewer on the notes in her lap.

She had simply been up too long. Focus was fleeting and she needed to rest.

Getting up, Naoto left her notes scattered on the floor of her living room, dropped her finished Styrofoam tray and skewers in the trash and got ready for bed.

* * *

 **May 15th, 2011**

Sipping from her second can of Mad Bull, Naoto leaned against the corner of the closed pharmacy. From this T-intersection she could easily see the main shopping street of Inaba – or what used to have been the main shopping street before the Junes chain had opened a location in town a year ago. The pressure this new multi-story shopping center had put on the locally owned stores was obvious even to the untrained eye. Most stores never opened their shutters any longer and signs announcing the permanent closure hung on store fronts all throughout the shopping district. Just down the street was a lot where construction had started some months prior, but now the site was derelict. Maybe her thoughts on the economic factors were to be taken into more serious consideration. If nothing else, these two murders had brought Inaba into the national news, if only for a few days.

Turning her head to the left, she could see the southern side of the small district. Many considered that the 'entrance' to the shopping district. Of course, most residents possibly only stopped on that end first, as the gas station was at the far south side. The district also had a less crass appearance in that direction, possibly because fewer stores had yet been shut down on that side of the district.

Still, a couple of closed-down stores. On the other hand we had the sundries of Shiroku, which doubled as a convenience store that also sold traditional medicine, seemed to do surprisingly well. Marukyu, a long-established tofu shop, which had decent tofu and very nice pre-made convenience foods based on the same. The impressive metalwork storefront of the artist simply known as 'Daidara' to the residents of Inaba. At the far south end, there was the local book store (which had an excellent Manga selection) and finally the Moel gas station. The bus stop right around the corner from it was one of the main focal points of Inaba. Students as well as the local workforce flocked down this street every morning and returned each afternoon.

Looking straight ahead she noticed two shoppers standing in front of the local bulletin board, right next to the Chinese diner Aiya and the strangely named Souzai Daigaku. "University of Side-dishes", she muttered and shook her head.

Up the street to the right, north if she were looking at the map, were the closed shutters of the Marutake Hobby shop. Opposite that, the overgrown gardens of the Tatsuhime Shrine. She read the other day that the hoodlums had been found a year after the initial incident, back then a group of middle-schoolers. As part of the sentence the magistrate gave was an order to take care of the trees planted on the grounds.

She had visited the shrine after reading that. If the work of the young vandals had helped or not was not to be seen. Weeds still sprouted up the stairs to the shrine grounds and amongst the stone paths.

Naoto stopped mid-sip as her eyes wandered further up the street. Someone just left the textiles shop. By the bright colours of the clothing the patron was wearing, it was a member of the inn, dressed in a kimono. She shifted her gaze away by tilting her head back and drinking from her can.

As the woman walked further up the street, Naoto pushed back her left sleeve to check the time, using the can in her other hand. Quarter to eleven. Pushing a few buttons on her watch, she upped the customer counter by one. The streets were busier than yesterday.

No sight of Kanji Tatsumi so far. An older woman had seen out a few customers earlier. By her looks, she was a relative of the youth, and by the helpful description of Marukyu-san she was actually his mother.

"Out for a breather, son?"

Thanking years of self-control, Naoto managed not to jump. While she had been keeping an eye on the main street, she had omitted to pay attention to the street behind her. This intersection was branching from the shopping district into the residential area.

"Shirogane." She replied placidly, her voice practiced and low. As manly as a teenager would get it, anyhow. "And I was actually out gathering information on the shopping district, Dojima-san" she replied, smoothly pushing herself off the wall, straightening up, and turning around. "Ah, Adachi-san." She offered a tip of her cap to both of them.

The older man tried to light up a cigarette, staring into his cupped hands. He didn't actually look at her. The younger detective at his side had one hand stuffed in his pocket, the other scratching his neck before returning her greeting with a nod. "You don't say, heh. … So, uh, what do you hope to find here then?"

"At this time, I am not fully convinced that we may be looking from the wrong angle at this case. There is still the possibility that the first murder and second murder are simply connected by a not-yet considered element."

Dojima frowned at his lighter as it produced only sparks and gave it a few vicious shakes. "You mentioned." He muttered, balancing his cigarette between his lips. "Your idea that there isn't actually a serial killer, but someone who reacted on some kind of impulse instead."

Adachi looked back and forth between his colleague and Naoto. "Really? So not someone with an agenda at all?"

"That is your interpretation, Adachi-san. My take is that there is a motive, but we are not looking in the correct locale to find it. A problem I seek to rectify by observing the socio-economical interconnectedness here in Inaba."

Sucking hard on his cigarette to get the embers settled, Dojima-san shrugged. "Well, we'll leave you to that then, Shirogane. We're off to the inn right now, I wanted to follow up on something there. I'll let you know if I shine some new light on anything, sounds good?"

"I value your cooperativeness, Dojima-san, Adachi-san." She gave them another nod and turned back to her observation. The conversation the two detectives had was tuned out by following her own train of thoughts.

It would have been preferable to join them at the Inn, but she had not yet fully prepared her new line of questioning. Without that, she could waste either an opportunity to speak to the staff or ask the wrong questions. And going back with new, different questions could be seen as back-paddling by Dojima-san and the local police. Seeing how they treated her already, she needed to avoid such slip-ups.

Business at the liquor store was slow, as it had been. In the last four days that she had taken time to observe the district, Naoto saw few patrons and the shop closed early every day. That the family just had suffered a tragic loss possibly played into the early closing times, too.

The same kimono-clad woman just bowed her way out and turned to continue walking up north.

Checking for any traffic, Naoto crossed the street and dropped her empty Mad Bull into a trash can. She pulled up her collar with both hands, tucked her cap down and slowly meandered north. On height with the textile shop, she glanced across the street to her right. The door now stood open and a young man, bleached blonde, was sweeping out the entrance of the store. That must be Kanji Tatsumi.

Pretending to pull out a map and reading it, Naoto turned sideways, as if it look for a street sign. Lifting her map, she peered through a gap between map and the brim of her cap. The youth had carefully swept the store and now continued on outside. He seemed quite absorbed in his task, enough so that he gave a start and turned to look inside the store when Naoto head a woman call softly "Kanji?"

He turned sharply and shouted into the store. "Ma! Damnit, don' scare me like that! Whaddya want?" The broom was leaned against the outside wall and he stalked back inside.

Naoto turned back to the road and continued walking. Noisy character, that Tatsumi. He actually bellowed loud enough to be heard at least up to the end of the street. She glanced at her watch once more. Just past 11. If it can be assumed that he sleeps in and then helps out at the store, this time would be good to try and arrange a meeting. She had also noticed him out in the afternoons a few times yesterday. So, her bracket of time seemed to lie between eleven in the morning and four in the afternoon. Provided she wanted to avoid too many eyes on her interview, the time between three and four seemed most advantageous, as less people were in the streets.

She glanced over her shoulder briefly, seeing the young man argue loudly about something she had missed. Worth noting was his build. She would need to make sure to carry some additional defenses when talking to him alone.

However, first she would want to talk to the mother. She had briefly seen the woman a few times. Dressed in traditional kimono with a short sash that she could tie herself. It was both a classic look and comfortable; as well as easily accessible in case she needed to get dressed in the kimono on her own.

Naoto stopped beside the liquor store and once more _checked her map_ , this time while peering into the darkened interior of the store.

So far she had not yet made any contact with any member of the Konishi family. While she did want to ensure all questions had been asked, she also wanted to make sure to only bother the grieving family members once she knew exactly what to ask. This would need to be one visit only. Each continued disturbance of their peace would quite likely lead to hostility. And that would undoubtedly compromise the information she was hoping to gather.

Turning away, Naoto looked back south towards the bend in the road. She folded up the map as Kanji Tatsumi returned outside, looking actually _armed_ with his broom this time and continued to sweep. His motions now were rough and it was likely that he rose more dust to settle back down elsewhere, than actually removing any. She tapped the map against her lips a few times as she watched him. Precisely as the police records had indicated. This brief interlude had shown her the quicksilver way in which his temper could change. Caution would be needed when approaching him.

It was time to return to the police station and formulate her plans for tomorrow.

* * *

 **May 16th, 2011**

Naoto ducked through the door into Tatsumi Textiles. "Please excuse the intrusion."

Mrs Tatsumi was kneeling in front of some shelves further towards the back of the room and turned in her seated position to bow to the new arrival. "Welcome, welcome to Tatsumi Textiles, please, enter." Another, deeper bow followed.

Her manners switching to full auto-pilot, Naoto returned a more formal bow as well, a small smile on her lips. She enjoyed manners and certain formal behavior. Her immediate impression of Mrs. Tatsumi was if she ever were to consider investing into more formal attire, this would be the place to –

 _Ah, but we are on a schedule right now._

"Tatsumi-san?" she asked and waited for the woman's nod. "My name is Naoto Shirogane. I am assisting the local police with the recent unpleasant matters." She wanted to be more direct, but the soft, pleasant atmosphere of the store removed some of her briskness.

"Oh, such an unfortunate situation, yes."

"I was wondering if you would be so good as to assist me with a few questions that arose while I reviewed the matter."

"But of course, dear, anything I can do to help."

Overlooking the 'Dear', the young detective pulled a small note book out and flipped to the page she had marked with a dog-ear. "Thank you, Tatsumi-san. Did you have any dealings with Miss Mayumi Yamano?"

"Ah, yes, the reporter. So tragic what happened to her." She nodded sadly. "Yes, I did."

Naoto stopped dead in her tracks. It had been a throwaway question, something to break the ice. She had not expected this reply. "If I may, what was the nature of your interaction?"

Tatsumi-san smiled, rose and stepped to a display of scarves. She let a red silk scarf run through her hands. "She came in to order a matching set of scarves. Sadly, she changed her mind and only bought the woman's scarf. The man's scarf is now on its own."

"Would you permit me to take a picture of this scarf, Tatsumi-san?"

"But of course." She turned and knelt back down as Naoto flipped open her phone and took a picture of the scarf. It would of course be of horrendous quality, but should enable her to spot its twin, should she find it – or ask others about it.

"Thank you. Returning to my questions…"

"Yes?"

"What do you know of the Konishi Family?"

"Very little, I'm afraid. I do not drink and our families were never that close. I believe my son is friends… or, well, at least used to be friends with the Konishi's son." She sighed sadly. "I do not know what I would do, if I had to watch my child being taken to an early grave. If I knew them better, I would offer them my support, but..."

"I see." So she would not find out more from this angle. Perhaps another approach could work then. Kanji was friends with the Konishis, or at least with their children. _So these questions will need to wait for now._ Naoto obscured her disappointment with a smile for the store in general. "You seems to have a lively trade. Your selection of patterns is formidable."

"Thank you, I do my best to only carry quality. One of my best customers is the Amagi Inn. It's a house of tradition and they provide the same quality for their guests as for themselves."

"So a lot of orders come from the Inn?"

"I'd say they are my biggest customer, yes. Not only do we clothe their staff, we also provide the yukata, towels and some wall scrolls." Tatsumi-san smiles proudly. "Many of their customers come to us to order formal wear after staying at the inn."

"That sounds like a lot of work for one person." Naoto looked about, pretending to look for any helpers. "You run the store on your own?"

"Since my husband's death some years ago, yes."

"Oh, I am sorry…" _That could have been avoided._ She had not seen any mention of a death.

"Don't be, dear. I am not alone. My son, Kanji, helps me out. Whenever I need a pair of strong arms – or longer ones – he is there to help his old mother out."

"Kanji. Does he work as a regular employee then? What I mean is, does he keep regular hours?"

"No. He helps out as his time permits. He is a student still and too young to fully take on the store on his own. He does have a talent, but, well, he needs to learn"

"I see. Do you know where I could find him?"

"Hm. He left about an hour ago on an errant for me. He should be back soon, if you'd like to wait here?"

Before Naoto could form the words that went along with the shaking of her head, the door slid open behind her. Waiting at the shop when other customers were here as well would be disadvantageous.

A gentle voice politely greeted Tatsumi-san. "Hello."

The shop owner turned her head and broke into a bright smile. "Ah, Yuki-chan. It's so nice to see you."

Yuki-chan. So someone familiar to Mrs. Tatsumi had entered. Removing herself at this point seemed possible – and prudent. She did not wish to involve anyone into her affairs if she did not need to. This way she could preserve as much information as she could and had control over the contamination of her gathered data.

"Well then, if you would excuse me, Tasumi-san."

"I'm sorry that I could not help more."

"It's all right; you've given me plenty to think about. Thank you." She gave the woman another small bow and turned around.

And started.

She had expected to see one person standing behind her, but she found the small store being packed now. Two young women and two young men in the clothing of the local high school stood behind her. Leaving swiftly was the way to go now. She gave them a polite nod and left the store, closing the door behind her.

Putting her note book back into the inside pocket of her coat, she looked back towards the intersection. Where she saw the tall young blonde man on height with the closed hobby store, walking up from the south side of the street. The deserted, empty street. _Perfect_.

Checking for traffic quickly, she marched right across and approached the younger Tatsumi. Shrugging his shoulders as he walked, she realized he was actually wearing his school uniform. Well. Wore. The jacket was open and draped over his shoulders and instead of the white shirt the code permitted, he was wearing a black shirt with a skull motive.

Her right hand slid into her coat pocket, her fingers slowly closing around a small canister. She had come prepared in light of the fast way in which his mood could swing. She did not want to explain pulling a gun on any civilian, not even on one with a police file the size of a slim novel. But she greatly disliked tear gas. Even if used correctly, a gust of wind could turn the defensive weapon against the user and if used incorrectly, chemical burns could severely injure any involved party.

If she needed it, she would use it. It was a far better solution than any shot could ever be with her gun.

"Tatsumi-san, I presume?"

"Er.. yeah?" He stopped, looking at her wearily first, then taking her in. She noticed how his right foot slowly shifted back, his shoulders slumped down. He was getting ready to either swing out or bolt. He was possibly assessing the young man who just marched right up to him. But he wasn't running or yelling. So far, so good.

"I just returned from your mother's store. I had inquired after you."

No reaction.

"I'm interested in you."

The young man looked confused now. His slightly defensive stance, one foot back, shifted to a more open, relaxed posture. Pulling one foot forward; his hunched shoulders relaxed. _Good_. She released her grip and pulled her hand from her pocket.

"Uh… what?" The confusion in his eyes had grown into a perplexed frown. It seemed he had not understood her at first. Maybe she needed to restart this, be clearer.

Naoto tipped her cap up and lifted her chin to look at him properly. "I am interested in you. There are things we should discuss."

Perplexity gave way to alarm. His eyes, which had been seizing her up so far, suddenly widened a bit. "Th-things-?" His eyes briefly darted around them, before being glued back to hers.

Considering the recent history this young man had with the police, this was not surprising. While Naoto did not have a TV in her apartment, she had read the police report that apparently had made the local news only three days ago. She needed to talk to him elsewhere, at a more secluded, quieter place. "Are you free to meet tomorrow afternoon?"

Still in his seeming state of shock, he nodded, without saying a word.

A small part of her would later find it a bit disingenuous, but she saw an opening to enhance his coming interview and took it. "Then I'll meet you at the gates after school tomorrow."

"S-sure. Sounds great."

 _Do not let him think about it now._ She turned and brusquely moved up the street, north, towards the end of the shopping district. This would mean she had to take a detour to return to the police station, but she wanted to be absolutely certain that he would not have a chance to change his mind now. He was vitally important to her progress and she'd not lose this chance.

When she had reached the curve of the road just past the liquor store, she suddenly heard him bellow from behind.

" _What the hell are you pricks lookin' at?_ "

Risking a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw him storm across the street, fists clenched, shouting at someone she could not see. _Please do not get yourself arrested. At least not until tomorrow evening._


	4. Chapter 4

_From here on, things will get a slight more tricky for me, as I will try to stick close(ish) to the source material I am drawing my inspiration from. You'll see me try to re-use the exact dialogue that zero-damage set in "Shortest Distance...", while adding or removing things to try and cope with writing from Naoto's perspective. (Truth be told, this is now entering the area that has me to most nervous.)_

 _I'd also like to give a shout-out to zero-damage on reddit (not the same person as the author); who most kindly took on being my proof-reader, after I tortured his soul with some of my previous chapters. I very, very much appreciate your help._

* * *

 **May 17th, 2011**

Leaning against a telephone pole just outside the shrine in the central shopping district, Naoto browsed her note book. She would possibly do so several more times, burning the prepared list of questions into her mind. Opening any kind of note book needed to be avoided in front of Tatsumi, as chances were that he might bolt if he felt she was working with the police on anything directly involving him.

Her preparation for today had actually started last night, when she had gone to bed early.

She wanted to make sure her day would not be fruitless, which involved her keeping an eye on Tatsumi Textiles in the early morning; observing Kanji Tatsumi leaving the house, and seeing him head towards the flood plains – a popular path to school which students of Yasogami High took.

Satisfied that he would be there at the desired rendezvous time, she had then returned to the shopping district, collecting her morning data on the shops. It was very much in line with all previous days. Business at Shiroku consisted of workers stopping by for a pick-me-up in the mornings and students grabbing a snack in the afternoon. Patrons left the book store with newspapers; drivers refueled at the gas station. The south end of the road was healthy as it had been. The northern side, well. As the previous days, it was not as busy by far.

Her watch vibrated gently on her wrist. Pushing her arm forward to pull the sleeve back, she glanced at it to confirm the alarm. Three in the afternoon. Time to go.

She had decided on the path she would walk to the school last night. Starting from where she could have an eye on the textiles shop, she would take the route to school Kanji Tatsumi had taken in the morning. If he had changed his mind, left early or skipped school, she would know at once.

The day was overcast and gray, few people were walking the streets. The flood plains of the Samagawa were nearly empty. No surprise there, the weather forecast had spoken of an 80% chance of rain towards the evening. As the sky only grew darker with thick clouds, she started to wonder if not bringing an umbrella had been a miscalculation.

Now and again Inaba surprised her. Walking with her measured, long strides, she caught herself twice slowing down, looking out over the river. The water quality was apparently outstanding, with many species of fish being able to thrive. She had seen an older man cast out when walking home in the evening about a week ago. It was… She disliked such words, but it was idyllic. There was a certain ideal of the classic rural Japanese countryside coming to life here in Inaba. Clean air, clean water. Rice fields and a traditional inn.

And even a place like this could be the refuge of a murderer or even serial killer.

Running her questions back through her head, she picked up the pace again, following the hill up to the local high school.

As she approached the gates, she noticed that a lot of students lingered around the gates, chatting with friends, comparing notes, playing around on their phones. Talking here was fully out of the question.

She also saw the tall frame of Kanji Tatsumi walking up to the entrance. If she had to pick, she would have pegged his expression as slightly lost and uncomfortable. Allowing him to rethink the situation needed to be prevented. She had to press forward and keep the situation's momentum.

Walking up straight towards him, she saw his expression grow more anxious as he noticed her. "I didn't keep you waiting, I hope?" she said as soon as she reached him. He was tall already, and she was standing on a slope. _Wonderful_. Pulling herself up and opening her shoulders a bit, she tipped her chin up to look straight at him.

"No, I-I just got here, too…" Distressed. Anxious. He was probably afraid of being overhead.

She gave a quick nod, turned, and walked away from the entrance to the school. Naoto swallowed the relieved sigh as she heard steps following her almost at once. He did not want to stand at the gates. She would simply choose a more secluded spot near the floodplain for the interview. As carefully as her partner in this activity demanded, of course.

* * *

They were being tailed.

Stopping once to retie her boots, she glanced back around her arm and saw two teens watching them from a little ways away. Possibly just curious, because she was an unknown face talking to an extremely well known face. Well, that could not be helped now. They were too far away to interfere with her questions.

Walking side-by-side in silence for a while, Naoto slipped her hand into her coat pocket again, feeling the coldness of the small gas canister against her palm. He seemed calm enough right now, so maybe she was simply overly cautious. Maybe there was a pattern to his aggression that the police had failed to identify. What she had learned yesterday may have simply been his reaction to being genuinely startled. Many people reacted with aggression to that.

She turned her head, looking up at the youth. _He is way too tall_.

She caught him glancing at her worriedly, and snapping his head back when she gazed at him. She would not fathom how someone who could easily physically overpower her could be so nervous around her. She needed to make sure to project her intentions clearly in her bearing. Soothing. Calm. Everything in her posture should say: I am not going to be a threat, Tatsumi-san. _Well, let's start off easy_.

"Has anything unusual happened lately?" she asked.

He gave a dismissive grunt. Or was it affirmative? She stopped to look at him. A commanding presence might make him more talkative, so she made sure her eyes caught his and held him.

Or… thinking about his mother, he may simply be used to more manners than she had so far displayed. And then it hit her – she had not yet even introduced herself! No wonder the youth was cautious.

"I apologize, I haven't yet introduced myself." She pulled the hand from her pocket and held it out towards him. "Naoto Shirogane."

Her offered hand was taken limply and held more than actually shaken. "Uh - Kanji. T-Tatsumi. Kanji Tatsumi."

"I know." She said, releasing his hand and placing hers on her hip. "After all, I came to see you."

"To - to see me? Whoa, I-I'm not like that, okay? N-nothing like it!"

Nothing like… what? Had he figured her out already? Did he realize she was addressing him due to his police records? Maybe his mother had spoken of her to him and now he was worried…. Or… Ah. Yes. The TV report. It must have been very unfavorable for him. It most certainly weighed on his mind still. But in all of his protesting, he did not appear threatening. If anything, he appeared threatened. Curious.

"Wh-what? What're you looking at?" he snapped.

And there was his quicksilver temper right back on the forefront. Reading him was not as easy as she had first assumed. Either he was easily flustered, scared quickly… or was a master at acting. "You are an odd person, Kanji Tatsumi."

He shuffled his feet. He _actually_ shuffled his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. With a shrug he then mumbled. "Wh-whatever. Just makin' sure, yeah?"

If this was the worst she had to expect of his temper, all her previous precautions were overbearing. He came across as actually kind of sensitive. Another new fact to keep in mind when dealing with him.

"Now, as I was asking before, Tatsumi-san" she began, walking in her long, measured stride again, "was there anything odd?" Taking control. Directing the conversation. And in all of this, she had to keep in mind to not seem threatening to him. Hah.

A grumble was his only response.

"What I mean is, have you, with the recent events in this town, had any especially negative or outstandingly positive encounters?"

He shrugged.

"No one approached you, no one demanded any services of you or any of your friends, perhaps?"

"Huh. Friends."

She peered at him from under her cap.

"Maybe the events earlier in the week-"

He shook his head and interjected. "Th-they were jus' botherin' ma. Had to…"

"Who disturbed your mother?"

"Th'bikers." Always a mumble. But he was on the wrong track as it is.

She needed to pull back and re-assess her approach.

"Tatsumi-san, I have no interest in the bikers. As I had said initially, my interest lies in you."

She flung her arm out towards him as she caught from the corner of her eye that he stumbled. Catching himself, ignoring her outstretched arm, he shot her another one of the startled glances and flushed. Too direct, perhaps. She needed to open him up somehow, but so far her approach to put him at his ease seemed to not work.

"Are you all right?"

An affirmative grunt.

This conversation became quite one-sided. Possibly trying to pry information from him at their first encounter had been too lofty a goal. Perhaps starting the interview with the goal of gathering information could already be called a failure. Establishing a more mutual bond, in a manner she would with a fellow investigator, could perhaps prove more fruitful.

Changing her stride into a slower walk, clasping her hands behind her back, Naoto changed the direction of the conversation. "How have you been in the last two weeks?"

* * *

When they reached the train station, she decided to allow him more space and terminate the current exchange. It had not been very informative, as he seemed distracted and had little, if anything, to contribute to their conversation. However, his stance had changed. The shoulders came down, his glances at her were less fearful and more curious now.

It has not been a waste of time however, as she had brought forth some bits of information. Yes, he was friends with the Konishi's son. No, they had not spoken in quite some time. Well, yes, they had, but not really ( _whatever that had meant_ ). Yes, he knew the daughter of the Amagi's and that had actually been the Yukiko-girl. No, he had not heard any rumors at school because he 'din' listen to that crap', as he so eloquently had put it.

This was an adequate place to halt their meeting for today. She would sort the information she had discovered thanks to this talk and she might re-schedule for another meeting at a later point. Though she should ensure next time that the teen had some time to actually gather information in the school and possibly with his friends. Most of his answers were not too informative.

"Thank you for your time, Kanji Tatsumi," she said, tipped her cap and turned about to head back to her apartment.

"H-hey! Wait!" Tatsumi called out behind her.

She stopped and turned about, her hand sneaking into her pocket. A change in his behavior. From non-verbal or short-phrased communication to actually initiating contact. Had he remembered something about one of her earlier questions?

"Uh...c-can I-" he stopped and seemed to grumble something to himself. "I-I wanna see you again, okay?" His hands flexed into fists for a moment, then relaxed at once. He flushed and stared at her, almost as if he wanted to put forth a challenge.

This was a fortunate change indeed. If their chat had managed to turn from feeling frightened into being open to the idea of conversation with her, then she might have managed to gain the access she had set out to gain to begin with. Having Kanji Tatsumi as a source, she could also possibly gain access to Yukiko Amagi.

She eyed Kanji as she considered her options. Exchanging numbers did not seem to be the next correct move.. And addresses needed to be absolutely avoided. He could still become a suspect, and relinquishing access to her private data was out of the question. She also did not want the teen to feel like this was the beginning of any sort of actual friendship, as she had a purely professional interest in him, after all.

He seemed to slowly grow anxious at the wait. Not knowing the correct reply just yet, all Naoto decided to simply give a tight nod and close out this conversation by leaving.

"Uh - that - that's great!" He said out loud behind her. He raised his voice. "S'great! I-I'll see you, yeah?"

A strange character. But he seemed absolutely the person she had hoped to find. She just hoped his social awkwardness didn't mean that he struggled to actually communicate as badly as todays' meeting had implied. Or that he was unable to form meaningful connections with others – though according to himself and his mother he had formed friendships with the people she wanted access to.

She would check in by the store tomorrow, when she had decided on her next steps.

* * *

 **May 21st, 2011**

NEED ADVICE CALL ME WHEN POSSIBLE

Sitting on the corner of her bed, Naoto looked at the phone in her hands. She ended up sending the text to her grampa after all. Every fiber of her being resented asking for help… but then, he was the elder Shirogane. He would possibly be able to assist her in finding what she had overlooked so far; spot the moment that it had gone wrong.

Had it been the day that Kanji Tatsumi had vanished? She could still kick herself for that mistake!

Being so certain, so sure that she had managed to hook Tatsumi as a new source of information, she had decided he did not need observation. She had gone to the station the following morning, prepared a new line of inquiry, researched some things online and sorted through the data she had noted down last night before bed.

When she stopped by the textiles store in the early evening to arrange a new meeting with Kanji Tatsumi, his mother informed her that he had been gone all night. So at some point after talking to her, he had disappeared somewhere. The place they had parted ways (WHY had she not tracked his movements after this?) had been a little ways away from his typical way home. Had a gang fight taken place? Had he injured himself?

She had spent the night at the station after this, pouring over reports of accidents, missing persons, suspicious activities – nothing. Nothing at all had come to light. Checking with the local hospitals had also not brought forth any trail of Kanji Tatsumi. He had just vanished.

Without him, she had been stuck. No progress at all had been made in the last five days now.

On top of that she had received another case file to review in the mail this morning and she had been asked for her input. Work now officially started to pile up and she needed some direction. This was a new situation to her, something she had not yet dealt with before.

She gave a small jump when her phone suddenly buzzed, then started to ring. She saw the caller ID and smiled as she opened her phone. "Grampa. Thank you for calling." She got up from her bed and walked into her living room.

"You know I will always make time for you, my dear. What can I help you with?"

Naoto ignored her sofa and sat down with her back to the wall. "The Inaba case. I have hit an impasse. I had a source located, but he vanished and I have been unable to locate him. I have spent weeks here now and my one break seems out of reach. On top of that, it seems you have sent me another new case..."

She heard him lean back into a leather chair – possibly in his study – as she spoke. She had his full attention and she could only hope he did not think poorly of her for not being able to address the case fully yet.

"I see. Naoto, sometimes a case cannot be solved as swiftly as many of the other ones we have addressed together or the ones I gave you to work on separately. Consider all a murderer could stand to lose. If they are stupid, catching them is a matter of weeks. But the Inaba case offers very little to go by. You may need to let the case rest-"

"Grampa, no! I cannot pos-"

"My dear, let me finish, please." There was only warm affection in his voice.

Naoto shook her head, knowing he would not be able to see it. "I apologize. I should not have interrupted you."

"That's all right. Naoto, listen. Sometimes you need to let a case rest for a few weeks or even months to ensure you can re-approach your clues with fresh eyes. I actually had send you this new case to review to let you do just that."

"I see. So you suggest that I change tracks for a while then?"

"Exactly. Work a few other cases. Keep your notes and everything else you have assembled, check in on your source now and again, but refocus your energies on something new. I am not asking you to abandon your work. But I am asking you to make sure you do not become frustrated. I realize this is something new for you, but it is vital for you to learn, if you wish to be an investigator. Every investigation can hit such points. Sometimes you need to delay the solution in order to gain new information, a new perspective, or simply allow yourself more time to find the idea you are trying to find too hard right that moment."

"I am not sure letting go of this case will be that easy." She pulled off her cap and leaned her head back, staring at the ceiling. "After all, this should not have been a difficult case at all. And… I already feel frustrated, Grampa."

He chuckled softly. "All the more reason to take a break now. Let me know what you make of the new case I send and I will call you in a few days. I have quite a bit of work I could use your help with."

"Do you want me to return to the estate then?"

"Not at all. I think living on your own for a while will do you good. You have everything you need, dear?"

"Yes, Grampa."

"Good. I love you. I will talk to you soon."

"Love you, Grampa. Thank you."


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry, sorry, it's a tad long again. I am trying to keep myself short, I really am! (I actually cut quite a bit away that'll go into the next chapter now.)_

 _There will be a few changes, as I mentioned - one of them is hitting us now. Since "Shortest Distance" came out, the MC's name had been changed to Narukami Yuu (Yuu Narukami in English of course). Seeing we'll have Dancing All Night release soon as the latest installment, and how more people may recognize that name over the formerly canon "Souji Seta", I decided to go for Yuu now._

 _Thanks, again, goes to zero-damage on reddit for sacrificing his time to read through the first draft._

 _Also thanks to Catherine for her feedback, hope you're continuing to have fun reading. ^^_

* * *

 **July 9** **th** **, 2011**

A robed Naoto stepped out of the shower, toweling off her hair. In her mind, she was assembling a small shopping list. Mundane as that activity was, running out of shampoo without having a replacement would be an inconvenience she could easily avoid. Besides, she should really replace the bottles of orange juice and green tea, which had gone untouched for the last two weeks and were certain to have spoiled by now. Possibly restocking on some other food options would be a good idea as well.

Yawning, Naoto stepped in front of the sink and stretched out. Slowly she rubbed the fog from the mirror with a corner of her towel. When she could see her reflection, she stopped, slowly pulling her hand back.

The girl she saw in the mirror looked a lot like a copy of the young couple whose picture was in her grandfather's study. Around her cheek bones, the tilt of her eyes, and the curve of her pale lips she very much was her mother. On the other hand, there was her strong jawline, the stark blue-gray of her eyes, and the colour and fall of her hair, which made her the very image of her father's daughter.

Even her grandfather could sometimes be seen in her. When she smiled, however rare that was.

Naoto gave her mirrored self a slow, apprising look. She carried not only the Shirogane name, she realized. She carried their mannerisms and even their looks. Yet there was no denying that she had left childhood behind. Her face had grown more angular, more defined. When had that transpired? Was it actually a sudden occurrence, or a process so slow and gradual that she simply had never taken notice and it just seemed sudden?

She sighed, turned, dropped her towel into the laundry basket, and re-fastened her robe. Foolish, unproductive thinking. Even if she looked less like a child, the actual worry was about looking too feminine, which would come after leaving childhood. Something that her morning routine now tried to battle each and every day.

By the time she stepped out of the bathroom, finished binding her chest, gotten dressed, combed her hair and finished that mental shopping list, she had become another person. A public version of the youngest member of the Shirogane legacy. Leaving her apartment, buttoning up her jacket, she cast one last glance in her bathroom mirror. Pulling on her cap, she transformed ever so slightly from her parent's daughter into Naoto Shirogane, the boy detective.

* * *

The rest of the day felt very slow, in the dreary, quiet way that comes with two days of non-stop rain.

After shopping at Junes, dropping off her groceries at home, and stopping by the Inaba police station to check up on any progress made by Adachi and Dojima (none, as expected), she decided to walk back to her apartment in the afternoon rain. The quiet that came with this kind of weather, combined with the deep earthen scent of petrichor, reminded her of afternoons spent alone in the garden of the estate. It was a familiar and comforting backdrop which allowed her to let her mind run freely.

The town looked bathed in monochrome. Thick clouds overhead prevented any colour from standing out, the only exceptions being the bright and seemingly out-of-place glare of the neon signs outside of some storefronts. Everything else kept a low profile today, turning the surroundings dark and chilly. She was actually wearing her spring coat again, even though it was early summer. Naoto saw no birds, no stray cats and hardly anyone else walking outside. It was like having her own little space, the white noise of rain patterning down on her umbrella sealing her away from the outside world.

On a whim she turned into the north end of the shopping district. This rain was growing to be so dense that even the street lights were diffused and weakened. The brightest light here came from the two soda vending machines outside of the Konishi's liquor store. Naoto stopped by the machines, pulled a Natural from the one of them and was about to turn away, when the machine played a small jingle. She turned to look at it and read "You've won a prize!". She shrugged, selected a second Natural and pocketed it.

As she turned back to continue southward; she saw a slice of bright yellow light reach into the street as the door at Tatsumi Textiles opened, and Kanji Tatsumi stepped out. He swept a small puff of dust into the still, mildly cold afternoon air. The swooshing his broom made seemed oddly muffled by the rain drumming on her umbrella, while being whispered back as an echo from the houses on the opposite side of the street.

Where had he been? How long had he been back now? More pressing: How could she possibly have spent several weeks now not thinking about him? He was a key point to her Inaba investigation, yet she had lost several weeks by not trying to follow up sooner. She had allowed Grampa to distract her with other cases, to the point where her own investigation had suffered. Sudden annoyance swelled up in her. Here she was, wasting time with a _stroll_ when she should run an investigation!

On impulse, she surged forward, wanting to pick up her trail right away. She crossed the street, her steps silenced by the steady patter of the rain. The younger Tatsumi had just turned, not seeing her, and re-entered the store. The door was pulled shut and the light that fell on the sidewalk from inside was cut off. Naoto slowed her steps just at the corner of the closed barber shop beside the Tatsumi's store.

No. She was rushing things. She had no plan on what to do next. The last she had done was gently probe for some information and she had barely managed to coax the young man out of his shell. If she were to just bulldoze right in, she might ruin her carefully laid groundwork. He seemed to spook easily and barging right in, possibly even putting him on the spot before his mother needed to be avoided.

As she still hesitated on what to do next, the door slid open again and Naoto shrank back behind the building. She heard Kanji Tatsumi say awkward farewells to two girls – one of them being the black-haired Amagi. Holding back her umbrella slightly, Naoto peered at them. Tatsumi was unable to keep eye contact with them, his gaze going right past both girls, his body slightly twisted away from them; but their conversation seemed friendly and warm. Reading the body language alone, the detective concluded the girls being close friends; their stance towards Kanji was one of familiarity.

What surprised her then was seeing none other than Rise Kujikawa skip out of the store, flinging her arms around the younger Tatsumi in a hug; then giving him a playful push as he went rigid as a board in response to her embrace. She could not hear what they were saying, but she did catch the three girls bursting into laughter together, which was repaid by him with a glower.

One of them, a short-haired girl, happily called out "Well, see you tomorrow, Kanji-kun!" before opening her umbrella and walking off with the other girls. The door was slid shut again and the street turned quiet as their steps started to be swallowed in the rain.

Crossing back from the other side, Naoto kept heading south, following them at a distance. This had been a most fortuitous moment for her. Being able to observe this brief encounter, she could start to formulate a new approach in her investigation. She should very carefully plan the next couple of days. Meet up with Tatsumi again. Hunt for new leads. Make sure she picked the case back up, now that she had taken her break.

If he had managed to make new friends at school, the change in his behavior was dramatic from a few weeks ago. He still didn't seem to be very talkative, but the way the four had just interacted promised a certain familiarity. In any case, his integration into the social networks of his peers would also provide her with more insight.

Something tried to grab her attention. A thought so thin that the moment she tried to grasp it, it turned into mist. She tried to reach for it a few times, then simply let it slip away and devised her new approach.

* * *

She had spent the evening revising her old notes on the murder cases here in Inaba. Sipping from a glass of fresh orange juice Naoto flicked through the copies of the files from the first murder.

She copied out the questions she still wanted to ask Kanji Tatsumi, adding new questions to the list, crossing out questions that were answered, or questions which seemed no longer as pressing. This included a number of new softball questions. His take on Rise "Risette" Kujikawa, for example. She had seen her mentioned in several yellow press magazines as she was shopping and found that the idol, apparently quite popular with her peers, was moving here permanently. She seemed to have taken some time to get settled in. After hearing a lot of chatter about her, she suddenly seemed to have vanished for a short while.

And then tonight, she saw her with two of the students who also had visited Tatsumi-san's store in May. Seemingly friendly with Kanji Tatsumi; possibly even involved with him.

As she flicked through her notes from her interview with the teenager, she found his dismissive reaction to the suggestion he might have friends. Clearly that either had changed or was changing right now. Or, of course, he had lied. He was very jumpy and nervous about her conversation with him back in May. But… No. That explanation imply seemed too unlikely. He did not show any deceitful behavior during their interactions so far.

Naoto also had dug out the map she had started to assemble at the police station and pinned it to the wall in her living room. She had pushed her table just underneath, placing her copied files and assorted notes on it. Having everything in reach, in case she needed to quickly check up on a factoid, falsehood or to confirm an actual piece of information.

She set her glass down and kept writing into her note book. Everything came back to her readily as she reviewed her notes. The need to tap the Amagi and Konishi families for information. Her hopes that Kanji Tatsumi had started to re-integrate himself at school. If she was lucky, he may have started picking up rumors that she could use to continue to fact-check on the case.

The surge of annoyance she had felt in the late afternoon had since settled. She realized that her distraction from the case had in fact helped her. She had thrown away many false leads she had dreamed up in her urge to find a solution and felt her head was so much clearer now. Ultimately, her goal was not to just solve the case. Her goal needed to be find the _right_ solution. And that would not happen if she simply chased for an answer without any respect for the actual mystery.

Something else had emerged as she reviewed this case with fresh eyes. A rumor she had flat-out dismissed had taken a shape. A shape she was slightly worried about.

The Midnight Channel.

Kanji Tatsumi had apparently been seen by some teens on something they called the "Midnight Channel" – a rumor she was told by an attendant at the local Moel gas station weeks ago. This had happened only a few days after his unexplained disappearance.

She had also heard that Rise Kujikawa had been seen on that channel. She no longer recalled how she heard about this, but she did hear of it and she remembered faintly to also immediately dismiss it as a prank. Who ever heard of turned-off TVs showing a late night show? She rejected the very idea of it as ludicrous, and simply being the sort of urban legend that gets passed around by bored teenagers with too much time on their hands.

Had she been wrong in that thought? How could something so absurd be the truth – or connected to her cases? Or was there another, separate issue going on entirely?

Even if one discounted the midnight channel however – each of the victims _had_ previously been on TV. NightLine had also reported about Tatsumi and Kujikawa. If the assumption could be made that the 'Midnight Channel' was someone falling asleep in front of the TV; if their subconscious combined the rumors of a person with what was shown on that broadcast, perhaps we're actually getting to the truth of the matter? And yet. Not everyone in NightLine had ended up murdered. That alone, combined with the Midnight Channel resulted in… nothing. Nothing at all.

Another consequence however could be that publicity on TV drew the murderers attention. If we require this as the signal for the murderer to become engaged and single out a target, that would mean, based purely on NightLine that both Kanji Tatsumi and Rise Kujikawa would still be in danger. Maybe only Kujikawa, Tatsumi seemed capable of fending off attackers, seeing his history of violence. Observing Kujikawa closely should be considered none the less. She would talk to Dojima in the morning regarding this theory.

By the time she caught herself staring at the map without seeing it and realized she should go to sleep, it was past two in the morning.

* * *

 **June 10** **th** **, 2011**

Naoto sleepily reached for her mobile phone in the dim light of early morning. She had tried to ignore the first rings, hoping whoever it was would simply leave a message. She had been up late and getting up just past sunrise was not a part of that plan.

She flipped open the phone and hummed sleepily "Shirogane?" while pulling her blanket back over her shoulders.

"Up and at 'em, wonder boy."

"Dojima-san? What time is it?"

"My watch reads six twenty-two. I'll be at your apartment in… about fifteen minutes, so get your ass into gear." Before she could reply with a very groggy complaint, he rushed on. "We have another victim. I simply _assumed_ you'd be interested in being there when I reach the scene…"

Jumping out of bed and already in her bathroom by the time he finished, she quipped "I'll be ready" and snapped her phone shut.

* * *

As irritable as Dojima-San could come across at times; when he was working, Naoto deeply respected his distanced, calm presence. She felt like a fully valued member of his team as she took notes, reviewed the injuries the victim had taken, and assisted in recovering evidence.

The weather played to their advantage. The ground had been like a sponge after two days of rain and finding the foot prints of the assailant who placed out the body was simply a matter of looking at the ground. No one could have missed these deeply sunken prints in the earth. Well. Maybe aside from Adachi-san. The mud from the terrain tracked up the water tower to where the victim had been hung dangling upside-down over the banister.

The victim was covered in defensive wounds and the attack must have been vicious. The head trauma was considerable and the location of the murder would certainly be found this time around – provided the attack had not happened while it still rained. Even so, the site was rife with traces, evidence and indications of a time line.

The had been here the best part of the morning so far, when Dojima caught her eye and indicated with a nod to pull back from the scene. She left side-by-side with him, Adachi-san trailing behind them.

Naoto stepped back behind the police lines with the other detectives and listened to them compare notes while she removed her thin latex gloves. Pocketing them, she pulled out her own note book and started to flip through the early pages. She wanted to see if anything could already strike her as comparable to the first two murders.

When correlating the first two victims with this one, stark differences came to light immediately. The clearly visible footprints. The deviation in the victim's gender. The severe injuries sustained by the victim. Even the locale was different – not a single house was anywhere near this water tower; no road, either. Only a small footpath lead here from the road, too narrow for a car. Where the first two victims had no physical marks, this victim was found with numerous defensive wounds. Leading up to the water tower, Naoto had pointed out drag marks. None had been noted near the previous two victims. Had they been missed or had the first two been carried? She scribbled down 'Compare weight of victims'.

Watching the coroners taking away the body, she drummed her pen on her note book. Why these differences? What had happened to make the murderer change his MO? Was he rushed? Did he fear someone saw him? Had his preparations gone wrong? What made his appearance any different? And… and why did she feel so confused when looking at him?

He didn't look familiar at all. Somehow that was important. She felt like she should know him, but did not. What did that mean?

"Shirogane?"

Wait… wait! She had not seen this man in the news at all. He had not been spoken of at the station when she visited yesterday; she had not read about him or heard anyone at Junes mention him – and NightLine generally was mentioned somewhere the day after the broadcast. She flipped back in her book and looked at the name. Morooka, Kinshiro. No, the name meant nothing to her. Nothing at all…

Her theory from last night, that the murderer would be influenced by seeing his or her victims on TV or them having a certain amount of local interest returned to the forefront of her mind. She made another note. 'Confirm recent movements of Morooka'

"Hey, Shirogane?"

She looked up from her notes and turned her attention to Dojima. "Yes, detective?"

"We've been here for four hours now. I'm headed back to the station to start the paperwork. The rest will be wrapped up by the investigations unit. Want a ride back with me?"

"Yes, that would… Actually, Dojima-san, would you agree to take me near the shopping district? I would very much like to check on something."

* * *

Naoto hopped out of the car, thanked Dojima and marched right up to Marukyu tofu. Being a regular here, she had been content with just talking to the elderly owner, but she should try to talk to Rise Kujikawa now. The morning had been too busy to talk to Dojima-san about her theory regarding Kujikawa being in danger, but she wanted to at least lay some groundwork. Her disappearance was, now that she had time to think on it, very much like the sudden vanishing of Kanji Tatsumi.

That was what had bothered her all evening without being able to put the feeling into coherent thought. They seemed to have had a similar experience or occurrence – and now they were on very friendly terms. Not only that, but the same second-year high schoolers that had tried to contact Kanji Tatsumi now seemed involved with her.

And now a teacher from the local school had been found murdered. Without being on TV first. Without having gone missing first. These two trails kept crossing and then separating again. Was she imagining a possible connection of the two? Or was she simply tired? The night had been too late and too short.

Taking the steps up to the store in one long stride, Naoto looked around the shop. "Pardon my intrusion?" From a back room, Marukyu-san walked in, wiping her hands on her apron. "Oh, the dapper young man. Welcome to Marukyu Tofu. How are you?"

Naoto tapped her cap, all her automatic habits kicking in at once. Her voice dropped, her back straightened, her shoulders came forward. "Marukyu-san. It is good to see you, I am well. I was wondering if your granddaughter, Rise Kujikawa, was here at this time."

"Oh, are you another fan of hers? I'm very sorry, dear -"

Naoto held up both hands. "I assure you, my request is not of any frivolous nature. I wish to speak to her regarding an investigation I am assisting the local police with. She is not in any kind of trouble" she hastily added as the older woman raised a shocked hand to her mouth, "but she might be able to help me clarify some matters."

"I see. Oh my, an investigation. Well, she actually isn't in right now. I believe she went to finish up her paperwork at school. She'll be staying here for a longer while, so she is enrolling while staying with me."

"How unfortunate…" Naoto frowned, her thoughts already racing. If Kujikawa started going to school here, she would certainly start becoming 'involved' in whichever was happening here. The coincidences were too convenient to actually point to anything else at this time. Maybe, if she could interject at an earlier stage, she could get a better insight into what was going on. Unless she, like Kanji Tatsumi, was already too deeply embroiled.

"Can I help you in any way perhaps?" Marukyu-san offered.

"No. No, but I thank you for your offer, Ma'm. I might stop by at a later time to see Kujikawa-san. I am very sorry to have bothered you."

"No bother, dearie, you're such a polite young man. Why, I am sure you'll be growing up to be a proper Gentleman even, unlike most kids these days."

Fearing a well-intentioned monologue from the shop owner, and feeling a blush creep up, Naoto tucked down her cap a bit and muttered a quick goodbye.

Leaving the store, she spotted the group of students, minus one Rise Kujikawa, walk up to the tofu store. With this arrival it became clear that information obtained from the starlet had to be considered contaminated. She did not _mean_ to frown, but her eyebrows drew down and her voice, still balancing on the practiced deeper tones, sounded frosty even to her own ears as the teens stopped in front of her.

"Are you here to ingratiate yourselves with Rise Kujikawa now?"

Naoto's eyes wandered over the group. The Amagi girl. Junes' branch managers' son. The short-haired girl. A very lender blonde boy. And, standing in the back, shoulders hunched down, Kanji Tatsumi. Were all her sources muddled already? Had she waited too long?

The Junes-boy suddenly did a double-take on her and then burst out "Hey! Aren't you that guy we saw with Kanji?"

Turning to catch him in a stare, Naoto simply dipped her head in a tight nod. "Precisely. I don't believe we've met since then-In fact, I don't believe I've ever introduced myself. My name is Naoto Shirogane." Tired. She was simply tired and perhaps a little on edge due to lack of sleep.

One of them let out a soft noise, like a choke or gasp for air. She kept her eyes on the teen in front of her. He shifted his feet. Good. The intent _was_ to make him uncomfortable. If any of the others recognized her name, only the better.

"I'm investigating the multiple murders that have occurred here. Mind if I ask you a few questions on the subject?" She carried on without actually waiting for any kind of confirmation. "The latest victim, Kinshiro Morooka...He was a teacher at the school you all attend, correct?"

The short haired girl was the one who replied. "S-So what?"

Naoto turned her head slightly, her gaze first lingering on the shaggy-haired boy, then her eyes flicked to the girl. She did a small nervous bounce. Uneasy as well. Promising.

"The public is focused on the fact that he is associated with the second victim's school...But in truth, that's irrelevant. What intrigues me is the inconsistency. This Morooka...has never appeared on television. What do you make of that?"

And there it was. The unease of the group was so thick she thought she could reach out and touch it. Glances were exchanged, feet tapped nervously, arms were crossed. The only two who did not seem to show agitation were the silver-haired young man and, oddly, Tatsumi.

Tatsumi, who got nervous simply being looked at most of the time, simply looked slightly confused. Maybe he had not yet been involved with the matter long enough or deeply enough to know all the details. If that was indeed the case, she could easily re-affiliate herself with him and tap him as a source the way she had started some weeks ago. Also, Kujikawa was not yet with them. Another good sign.

Not as good as their reaction now however.

"H-How are we supposed to know?" snapped the boy. She needed to find out the names of these teens and investigate their backgrounds.

"Well, we'll leave it at that." Naoto smiled knowingly. They were hiding something. Time to push them off balance just that touch more. "I'll be keeping an eye on you all," With this, she left, walking straight past them, headed straight to the station. She had more paperwork to prepare now.

* * *

 **July 11** **th,** **2011**

Okay, so she did smirk.

Naoto had waited at the Junes food court, her back to a wall, a newspaper open. When the teens started to arrive, she fixed each of them in their minds. Hanamura. Satonaka. Amagi. Narukami. A very slender blonde boy. The only name she could find on the blonde boy was "Teddie". Their voices were low, but still carried well enough to catch the gist of what was going on.

It seemed they spoke in some sort of code about certain locations or occurrences, possibly knowing that they could be overheard at such a public place. What "T.V." could be short for was a bit of a puzzle. They could not mean actually entering a television set. But they did speak of the rumored Midnight Channel. Her deduction that somehow the late night show NightLine was involved seemed to hold water.

However… Dojima had been rather clear this morning. They felt she no longer was needed now. They had a suspect and would start connecting the dots leading to them. Well, the way the scene was utterly littered with evidence, even someone like Adachi-san should have been able to find _something_. She had still decided to keep an eye on things, until they were fully wrapped up. The case still held some holes in the trail of evidence and she needed to know what happened on the first two murders.

She folded up the paper and got up to deliver the good news.

As she approached the table, she heard Satonaka say "Well, we'll do what we can, for King Moron's sake too! At this rate, you have to figure that the killer has something to do with the school, right? So why don't we split up and-"

"That won't be necessary." _I am cool. I am collected. Let me show you how this is handled by someone who has the maturity you still lack._

She heard Tatsumi stutter a faint "Y- You…"

Whatever he had meant to say, she would not give him the chance. "There is no need to examine the case of Mister Morooka any further." She placed a hand on her hip, squaring up before them. "Apparently, the police have found a suspect. It would be best to let them handle the case from here."

It was Satonaka again who jumped in. She seemed to also not handle any kind of silence well. "They found a suspect...!? Who is it!?"

"It isn't public knowledge yet, but he isn't a student of your high school. It seems they are quite confident that this boy is the killer.. Soon, this case will be solved, and your town will once again be its peaceful, rustic self." She would not smile. As much as she felt like being condescending to these teens; as much as she wanted to show them how actual police work was done, she kept herself in check.

Hanamura stared at the table for a moment, then looked her squarely in the eye. "All right...So why come tell us? That's confidential info, right? Why run right here and spill it?"

She turned her head to face him. That had been an unusually sharp observation on his part. "Your 'game' will soon reach its end. I felt I should at least let you know that." _Okay, so maybe a little bit condescending._ It was the truth however. They should not have meddled. Police work is not the place for curious children or teenagers who think they can outwit professionals.

"It's not a game to us." Narukami, who had been quiet most of the conversation so far, did not look at her as he said this.

"You don't deny, then, that you have involved yourselves in the matter?" This time, no one rose to her bait. "Well, no matter. I have no reason to say anything further." Naoto turned, ready to leave. Should she find them interfering any further, she could-

Something pounded behind her, and as she turned around, Kujikawa was standing, her hands pressed hard against the table. "Aren't you the one who thinks of this as a game?" she snapped. "All you're doing is solving mysteries, playing at detective!"

The young detective felt herself being stunned into silence at the outburst.

Kujikawa wasn't finished. "You're the one who's playing a game here!"

"Rise's right," Hanamura cut in. "The second victim, Saki Konishi. You know her? "

Naoto nodded. "I've seen her files." _Where did that line of reasoning come into play?_

"So? How does that matter? You didn't know her and you don't know any of us - because if you did, you'd know this wasn't a game." Hanamura tried his best glare on the young detective. Not really intimidating. Observing the interview of a high-stakes drug dealer was much more unnerving, but it was a good attempt at appearing disquiet.

She pondered her reply for a moment. "A game."She tipped her chin down a little to try and hide her expression. This was not the first time she had been told this, and yet the words still stung a little. "That may be quite true."

Working by following in the footsteps of four generations, she could be seen as playing at the vocation of her parents and grandfather. But there had been others who underestimated her in the past; many of which now quite likely cursed their blasé attitude from a jail cell.

"Ah, I get it." In an instant, Hanamura's glare shifted to a self-statesfied smirk. "What, did they get rid of you now they've got their man? Is that why you came here? " He leaned back and stared at the young detective, arms folded. "You were lonely?"

Ah, we have reached the stage of ad hominem. Any interrogation reached this moment, where the interviewed locked up, feeling they found a way out – generally by uttering personal attacks. The one chosen by Hanamura was a very well-known one to Naoto and she did not rise to it. "Detectives normally aren't involved with arrests," she stated plainly. "And we never harbor any special emotions regarding a case, either."

"Uh - so they d-dropped you?" Tatsumi stammered, staring firmly at the table. _Still unable to look at me._ That was another promising continuation for her. If he felt even slightly intimidated by her, she could build on his discomfort.

Still, he had been the most placid and almost kind in his reply. She felt like snapping another cool retort, but changed her mind to not damage any potential future conversations at this point. A slightly more open response was needed. One that would show her mature bearing as well as her control over the situation.

"It is rather unfortunate that people are only attentive so long as our services are required - but I'm accustomed to it."

No one replied to this. Tatsumi flashed her a short look – was that pity in his eyes? – but no one else mustered any kind of response.

She could have left earlier. Should have, really. Maybe she had already said too much just then. "Well, I'll be going now."

Turning, Naoto marched out of the food court, not hearing a single word spoken as she left. She knew Grampa had sent some more case files for her to review. While she could turn her main attention on that, she still would remain here to see the case come to a complete close.


	6. Chapter 6

_Surprise Chapter this week, courtesy of zero-damage from reddit, who had the time to do his thing early._

 _Catherine: Thanks for your kind words, as always. :) I have been pondering how to handle some parts of the story while remaining respectful to zero-damage's work on "Shortest Distance". In this chapter you'll see how I chose to skip some encounters he wrote, while adding some he did not. I'll continue this way of writing, so that you, the readers, don't end up simply having a poor mirror-image._

 _I have considered doing Kanji-Interludes when zero-damage had Naoto interludes. Not sure yet of that would be redundant or give the story more polish. I'd love to hear what you guys think. :)_

* * *

 **August 21** **st** **, 2011**

There are so many amiable ways one could wake up in the morning.

The slow, gradual awakening that comes when the sun rises and slowly floods the room with light. The smell of foodstuffs, tea or coffee. Having ones name called by a loving family member. Birdsong, the rushing of waves – even thunderstorms could be a nice thing to wake up to.

Unfortunately for Naoto, she woke up pre-dawn after a fitful nightmare by falling off the couch, straight into a small heap of papers, folders and discarded clothes.

Scrambling to her feet, slipping as some papers slid away from under her, her hand reached for the side of her leg to pull out her gun. She peered around the barely-lit room in panic when she found herself unarmed. It took a few moments to realize that not only did she not have her weapon within reach, but that she also did not need it.

Relief turned her legs into jelly and she dropped hard on her knees, her throat feeling ragged from panting. She slanted forward, her left hand steadying her, her right hand clutched to her chest. _Calm yourself. It was only a dream. Nothing really happened. You are safe in your own apartment, not battling for air; not fighting for your life._

After allowing herself some long minutes of controlled breathing and having her eyes adjust to the little bit of light there was, Naoto came to her feet. No wonder, really, that she had slept poorly. She had fallen asleep on the couch, surrounded by the case work of the murders. Fractions of her dream returned, one of them being pushed under water, an assailant trying to drown her.

This is of course to be expected, when falling asleep fully dressed… and still _bound_. Breathing was an issue while wearing her chest binding already, add to that being asleep and slumped into the couch. She had likely struggled for breath rather badly before she woke up.

She unbuttoned her shirt and released the binding on her chest. Immediately she felt her emotional distress recede even further, as she felt the first deep breaths unhindered by her masquerade. Starting the day at this point was as good as any other she decided, and turned towards the bathroom. Or at least trying to get there. Barely catching herself, as she stumbled over a small but unexpected stack of reference books.

Her apartment had turned into… it was _not_ messy. She simply had spent the last week deeply involved with the case. There was no time to straighten up or sort through the boxes she had filled with discarded information. But still, that only her shelves had any semblance of order was somewhat out of character for her. She'd find some time to fix that, just not right now.

Entering the bathroom, she turned on the light without thinking, and winced from the sudden brightness. Pressing her eyes shut hard, she blindly tossed her shirt and bindings towards the general direction of the laundry basket. Very slowly re-opening her eyes, she continued to undress, added the remainder of her clothes into the basket and stepped into the shower.

She stretched out and pressed her hands against the wall. Leaning under the stream of hot water, allowing the sore muscles in her shoulders and neck to relax; letting the muscles in her back take back some of the work her bindings had claimed for over a day. She needed to finish her work so she could allow herself a proper resting schedule again. Right now there was so much to do that she could not spare the time, but falling asleep from exhaustion three nights in a row had started to negatively affect her physically. If this kept up too long, it might start to affect her mental prowess.

Right now, it was not sluggish thoughts that were the issue. As soon as she allowed her mind to drift a moment, her thoughts flickered from note to note, photo to photo, every few seconds a new scrap of evidence popping into her mind. She tried to tame the wild race of her consciousness, feeling overwhelmed by the staggering amount of work before her, and the avalanche of facts that pushed forward. Bringing it all to paper in an orderly fashion once she was refreshed from her shower would surely help with that. It would also be something she could hand over to Dojima to understand where it was headed right now, and why this case had taken a wrong turn.

* * *

 **August 25** **th** **, 2011**

"I get all that, and I don't think you're completely off track -" Dojima started.

"My reasoning is not flawed whatsoever!" Naoto pinched her eyes shut and her hand flew to her forehead. The headache had now been present for four days thoroughgoing. The pain she could deal with. The distraction that came with it was another matter entirely. She slowly opened her eyes, rubbing her forehead slowly.

The look on the detective's face changed from irritation to concern. "Are you feeling all-"

"I am fine." Her hand jerked back to her lap. "I simply was up late and am feeling slightly unfocused." She turned back to the two big file boxes she had brought along to the office today. "If we could continue, I have further proof here that Kubo was _not_ involved in the first two murders. I have also prepared itemized lists that will provide the evidence. I urge you to present these to your supervisors."

Dojima-san sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair. He could sigh all he wanted, so long as he finally listened.

She had spent long hours both at home and here at the station to clearly assemble and label the information they had on the three murder cases. She had taken specific care to even cross-reference the conflicting bits of information in such a manner that no one, not even Adachi, would be able to misunderstand. Naoto articulated at length which bits of information linked where; where needed proof was missing; how the scenes differed.

And yet she caught him leaning back in his chair and gazing at the ceiling several times. He busied himself with scribbling geometric shapes in a notebook, checked his phone, and mournfully glanced into his empty coffee mug.

"Dojima-san? Please, keep your attention on the matter at hand. We are about to try a young man for crimes he did not commit. Not only that, we may very well be on the path to allowing the real murderer to go free!"

He had not looked at her while she spoke, and still did not. When he spoke, his voice was soft and sounded tired.

"Shirogane-san. I see how much work you put into all of this. I cannot believe I am saying this, but I value your input on all of this. You may just be a kid-" Naoto flashed him a glare and straightened her back- "but you did good. That said, the matter is in the final stages. We will not be adding new evidence to the case at this point, or take apart the case that the district attorney has built."

Had he been _listening_? "Dojim-"

"No, Shirogane. I am sorry, but this is where our work ends." He finally sat back up and turned to face her. "I even agree with most of your findings. You're a smart one, wonder boy, and I think you'll go far. But before you do, there is something you'll need to learn. Sometimes a case simply needs to be closed. Inaba is a small town. People are scared and worry because they have not been given a solution yet. It's been months now that we have been working on this. The brass wants a pound of flesh and they will get it with Kubo. Our work _ends_ here."

He stood and she jumped to her feet along with him. This didn't make sense. Dojima-san's implication here warped all she knew and understood about the legal system, about justice, about the profession of a detective. He was making a grave mistake and it was up to her to stop him. Maybe reason could work when logic seemed to fail him.

"Detective, surely you worry about another murderer still being out there? Is preventing another death not the true goal of capturing the murderer? If you present my findings, I am certain you can show the value of a proper solution to your superiors."

He hesitated at that. "I have a feeling that the first two murderers were linked to Yamano. Someone wanted her. They did away with the poor girl because she could identify him. There was no serial killer in the making here, Shirogane." He reached out to clasp her shoulder and she dodged away under his hand. He just shrugged. "Learn to let it go."

A proverbial avalanche of thoughts drowned out any semblance of coherent thought she may have had left as she watched him toss her assembled evidence into the boxes, stack them up and drop them besides his wastepaper basket.

Staring at the boxes at her feet, she murmured "This is a crass miscalculation…"

"Life is full of mistakes. Go home, Shirogane. Get some sleep."

She wasn't sure if he had meant well, but she left the discussion in a bitter mood.

After this discussion, Naoto spent another five hours at the station, trying to find any other officers or detectives who would listen to reason. Anyone at all who could possibly help her push back and address the issue correctly and with the right goals in mind.

* * *

 **August 26** **th** **, 2011**

Her apartment was in a sorry state; littered with discarded food containers, case notes and discarded clothing. Somewhere in the back of her mind she even realized that. There may have been the echo of a mild scolding, a memory of some adult getting her to understand the necessity of an orderly living space. She ignored it.

Still in her pajamas (when had she last actually gone to bed?) Naoto stepped over a stack of files, squeezed past a discarded pile of copies, pushed a few file boxes aside with her foot and hopped over empty food containers to reach her couch.

There simply had to be a way to persuade Dojima-san and Sawaguchi to continue the work before them. The latter had started to try and prevent her from gaining access to the detectives. Why he would do that, she was unsure. Had someone directed him to do that? From the personality of the man, she would not have doubted he had taken it upon himself.

There was a murderer on the loose. This wasn't the case of some petty crime; not the matter of simply a thief being active. Unlike tax evasion or counterfeiting, people could lose their lives here.

In her mind, she had tried to find the missing pieces over and over. She even had reverted back to a professional assassin having been called in. The lack of traces meant that the perpetrator could very well have been a professional who knew how to evade detection.

She picked up a couple of loose pages from her note pad. They were filled with random lucid strings of thought. She had, at least for a while, tried really hard to fit Niteline and the rumor of the midnight channel into the current theories. Any time she hit a block in her trails, she picked the thought of the television show back up. Also, the teens several weeks ago had spoken of the television, as if they had any idea of how these ridiculous theories could be linked. Still, nothing she tried lead anywhere.

She crunched the notes up and tossed them in the general direction of one of her 'rejected ideas' corner. She _would_ pick up and sort out the discarded papers. Maybe tomorrow. Possibly.

She ran her tongue over dry lips, wincing as she felt the sharp edge of cracked skin. She was clearly dehydrated. It showed in headaches, general sluggish thinking and the odd cramp. Yet, it wasn't really on her mind. She wasn't hungry or thirsty as such. Food and drink needed to be considered, alongside picking up her apartment. Later.

Maybe she had tried to start at the wrong end of things. Talking to Sawaguchi, the patrol officer who had found the first two victims, could being another ally to her. Surely he had an interest in avoiding further murders. The streets and the people living in them certainly were his main concern. There was still the chance that he was simply blocking her access because Dojima-san had asked him to.

Naoto glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes to four in the morning. Deciding it was too late to try and sleep again and too early to start writing, she got up and started to poke through the different piles of reference material, copies of files and reprints of pictures she had gathered. She knew she had one more shot if she simply started by approaching the police officers.

Ignoring the headache pulsing whenever she moved, she carelessly upended another file box and started to add evidence to her theory into it. She simply had to make them see. She would not have case 25 be sullied by bad investigative measures she had no control over.

* * *

 **August 27** **th** **, 2011**

Naoto stormed after Sawaguchi through the darkened streets. He had the _gall_ to take her files and stick her work into the shredder, right before her eyes, then simply leave the office as if nothing had happened?

The snickering of the other officers present still replayed in her head again and again. Why they would willingly engage in childish bullying when the reputation of their department ( _and_ hers) stood on the line…

And then there was Adachi. After a … disagreement with the young detective over the proper handling of evidence, and the subsequent order to "Go home and get some sleep, kiddo" from another officer present; she had rushed after the patrol officer in a last desperate shot to get him to listen. Why would no one _listen_ to her? Did they not see; did they not _understand_ how vital this matter was?

"Sawaguchi-san... Sawaguchi! Please wait!"

The officer not only did not wait, he did not even turn around to look at her. Instead, he turned right and entered the north end of the shopping district, walking as if nothing was amiss.

But she simply could not stop. She had to make them understand. She had to ensure they would not let this mistake carry on any longer.

Running to catch up, she called out again. "Sawaguchi-san! It must be in your own interest as well to ensure that the right person gets caught! You'll want to avoid further deaths in your town, am I right? If you take just one read through my assembled data you must agree that Kubo-"

The officer stopped and turned to face her. A slow smirk spread over his face. "Naoto, look. You're an okay kid. But Kubo did it. He confessed, we have the evidence we need to lock him up for good."

 _Calling me by my first name?!_ Naoto felt outrage well up, hot and unhindered. She was exhausted, she was tired, she felt weak and shaky and now this man had the absolute arrogance to address her like a member of his own family?

"You will not address me in that manner! I do you the curtesy of addressing you properly, the least you can do to a freelance detective" here he snorted a laugh "is to do the same in return. You cannot possibly want me to believe that you are so incompetent to not see the proof when I labeled it out for you and so unqualified that you feel threatened by someone younger than you to actually having to point it out?" She rambled. She realized she was rambling. She also realized she was shouting. Neither mattered. This man, this stupid, shortsighted, ludicrous little man held in his hand the future of possible women and children in this town and he simply laughed!

His voice was soft as velvet when he replied. "And you are taking yourself way too seriously."

He tried to turn around and keep walking, but she shot past him, back straight, shoulders up, blocking his path. "You may conceivably ignore me, but you cannot possibly ignore the facts! Morooka was attacked and killed by Kubo, but that's all he did. He-"

"Yeah, and he will be punished for that and for what he did to Yamano and Konishi as well."

"I'm telling you, he isn't the killer!" Her voice sounded weird to her ears. She felt the lump in her throat trying to constrict her. If he walks away from this she may well lose her only and last chance to solve this matter before anyone else would suffer. And she risked her first unsolved case. Raising her voice, her practiced low range cracking at the edges. "Are you people blind?"

"Okay, wonder boy, that's enough. I have work to do. You can go along and play detective elsewhere now. And if it helps you, I'll promise you that we will punish Kubo, okay?"

"While you're wasting time, the real culprit will-"

She snapped her mouth shut. Sawaguchi had turned away and was striding down the road. He had shut her away as neatly as if she had turned into thin air.

Naoto tried to find more words. She made a slicing motion with her arm, started to rush forward again. But she stopped after simply stamping out her foot. She felt sick. Tired, sick, desperate, shocked, frightened, shaky. If she could be only a little honest with herself, she actually shook with untamed fury as well as with the fear of failure. But this was not the end. She still could crack this. The police may stop working diligently, but she would not. She could not simply give up and let a possible serial killer escape and remain free to strike again.

Her shoulders and back loosened. Her hands slowly balled up into fists. Another battle demanded her attention. Her eyes were stinging and she felt hot tears of exasperation well up, blurring her vision. Still panting she shifted her focus to try catching her impotent rage and shut it down. She could still catch up to the man, but if he saw tears, he would dismiss anything further she had to say.

She did not hear the sliding door beside her open.

Did not hear him approach.

Did not hear him say anything.

"C'mon, don't-"

A hand brushed her shoulder.

Naoto's reflexes reacted before any kind of coherent thought would form through the red mist soaking her thoughts. She dodged, took two rapid steps back and ducked, ready to tackle the possible assailant.

The next second she realized that the shadowy figure towering before her was Kanji Tatsumi. Just as she had dodged away, he jerked back. His breath caught, as if he has been surprised. Why would HE feel surprise? He had been trying to grab her after all! To make it worse, her carefully assembled scraps of self-composure came crashing down.

"Wh-What are you-" Naoto started out to snap at the boy, but her voice started to break apart and she felt a whimper trying to climb up her throat. She spun away from the blonde and lifted her arm before her eyes.

"S-sorry, man, I d-didn't-"

"You - I don't-" The tears she had battled fell. Big, obvious, shameful drops catching on her arm and the back of her hand. The shiver of anger fled, overturned, and she now found herself fighting the urge to sob out loud in frustration.

Why was he here? Why had he come? Why was it that the one person she needed to be able to keep in careful control was so close to see her break down and cry? So close to see her carefully built persona as a junior-hardboiled detective shatter? And even though she had turned away from him, he would still not leave.

"I just wanna - look, what was with that cop?"

Sawaguchi. Adachi. Dojima. In her minds' eye she saw them talking about her. Laughing. Dismissing her work. If she were to add to that the stigma of emotional instability that clings to women, her future would be over.

Helplessness fled as quickly as it had tried to take control of her. Cold anger came crashing back and instantly suppressed her tears, her shivers and the lump in her throat.

"It's nothing," she muttered, her voice being perfectly low and level. "Excuse me, I need to go." She tugged down her cap, dodged around Tatsumi and marched home.

For a moment she thought he took a breath to call after her. He did not, and she was glad for it.

One of the seemingly least capable here in Inaba, a young man who seemed to have a mild stutter, issues making friends and a police record thick as her fist, and _he_ was the first one here to approach her and offer help.

The youth had given her an idea however. If she were to remain in Inaba and in turn get herself involved with the locals, including the students here, she should be able to continue her work without fear of being blocked by the police. For all they knew, they had gotten rid of her and she could just play along with that on the outside.

The easiest way to solve several of these problems was of course to enroll to the local high school. She would get that paperwork sorted out in the coming days.

Truthfully giving up and abandoning the case? She would not allow that. She would not allow them to ruin her reputation.

* * *

 **September 7** **th** **2011,**

It had been too long since Naoto had endured any kind of formally institutionalized education. That was the only logical explanation as to why fitting in proved to be such a challenge. The other option was that the general future of Japan was at peril, as the next generation was hopelessly incompetent and incapable.

She had explained to Grampa what her reasoning was and he readily supported her idea to attend Yaso High. Actually, looking back, he very, very quickly agreed. Possibly because he knew he had a longer trip to the United States approaching and knowing her in a regular daily schedule would put his mind at ease.

She had forgotten how… How utterly _immature_ her peers were. She had not even entered the school building when Hanamura … _senpai_ … had dubbed her "pint sized detective". Other nicknames of different level of quite dubious fondness were "Detective Prince", "Shirogane Heir", or "Short Stuff". The need for these bizarre nicknames were fully beyond her. Shirogane-san. Easy. Respectful. And most of all the proper and adult way of address.

Further, her fellow students seemed unable to keep records. If she had the muse for it, she could have created a bingo-card by now. Each lesson and class intersecting with certain names – Kujikawa came to the forefront of her mind at once. Other wanted to outright copy her homework. Where was the educational benefit in that? To study and learn any subject matter, practice was needed. If a student was unable to reproduce the work given as study assistance, simply copying the results would not anchor them in their mind.

Not that this was her only source of exasperation. The term had barely started and already they were preparing to leave on a school trip. There was next to no educational value in this undertaking!

Adding some extra shirts into her backpack, neatly covering the additional bindings she would take along, Naoto repeatedly doubted the rationale that had led her to enroll. A bit over a week ago the solution seemed so clear and logical. Looking for information, one goes to the source of the matter. Simple. That this source would end up being behind social barbed wire was not something she had put much thought into.

Instead of gathering new intelligence, she spent her days fending off approaches by female classmates, sneers from male classmates, and the oddly specific attentions of Kujikawa, who seemed to try and ensnare 'Naoto-kun' into some sort of social arrangement. Not even she would properly address her as Shirogane-san. It was maddening.

What also was maddening was the persistency of the idol. Invites to have lunches or dinners; 'Just hang out with me, Naoto-kun!'; offers to exchange phone numbers so they could 'chat more'… The detective was uncertain why or for which ultimate goal, but Kujikawa kept appearing – often followed or heralded by Tatsumi.

All of this would be solved at a later time, she was certain. Possibly right after fending off another invite to a 'study session'. The manner in which these took place had previously observed by Naoto. It was an extended snack time at Junes if it came down to it. Sure, books were open, but no one looked at the subject matter.

For now, preparing for the school trip took precedence. Naoto assembled three case files she would be taking along. She had time during the trip to work and unlike school and the implications of being locked up with a few dozen children, working would at least be a productive outlet for her energies.

Her gaze lingered on the files marked _Yamano_ and _Konishi_ as she stood in front of her desk. "I've not forgotten about you." Staring at this thick stack, she was reminded why she would suffer through anything this school semester would bring. Two young women needed to have their justice. And while others might have abandoned them…

Resting her hands on the files, frowning, she tonelessly repeated herself. "I have not forgotten."


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks for the feedback, guys. I'd still like to hear some thoughts on Kanji-side interludes, I can go either way on these right now and am still not too sure if they can add to what Shortest Distance has not yet provided. My interludes for him would need to be something that Shortest Distance had not shown, so possibly along the lines of what I have been doing with Naoto-side conversations here._

 _As always, much love to zero-damage of reddit for fixing up my scribbles!_

* * *

 **September 8th, 2011**

Being inconspicuous leaving the train station had been simple.

Remaining such once actually on the train proved onerous.

Jaw clenched, cap pulled down so far she could barely look straight ahead, Naoto had attempted to hole up in a corner of the train and work. A bona fide _parade_ of girls – of both first _and_ second years – had made working so far impossible. Every few minutes she had to deflect invites to strolls, testing someone's home-made snack or pointless small talk. Most of them had given up after a while and left. This last group of three, however, would not be shaken.

She tried clipped, short replies. She tried glares. She tried plainly stating disinterest. Nothing, _nothing_ worked. Megumi Enomoto had her sights set on being an aggravation and it seemed nothing could stop her.

When the girls chirped they would go find some refreshments to bring "the Prince", Naoto had enough. Hastily gathering up her files and bag, she jumped up and started to move through the wagons towards the back of the train. There had to be some place, _any_ place, where she could just sit and work in peace.

Most compartments were filled with students chatting while texting or browsing online chat sites. The noise of chatter hung thick around small groups of students throughout. She kept walking until she reached one of the last carriages. In one of larger open-space wagons the she saw Kanji Tatsumi sitting by himself; staring out of the window. If not for her current mood being too dark to show any actual emotion, she would have sighed in relief. Tatsumi was quiet and he rarely exchanged more than a few brief words with most students – even less with her. Also, his perceived image could potentially keep some of her… _admirers_ … at bay. She had seen first-hand how students would leave the moment they spotted Tatsumi walk towards them.

She shifted her bag and walked straight up to him. In truth, she had not yet figured out how to best establish – or re-establish – cordial interactions with the youth. She had not yet dismissed his value for her own investigations, either, and if she was honest with herself, his quiet moods suited her well. If only for his temper not being quite as fickle.

That was neither here nor there right now. Right now, all she wanted was some quiet.

"Kanji Tatsumi?"

She waited, hoping that none of the girls out prowling for her could see her standing in the aisle. Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed no one paying her much attention. She slowly edged closer to him, leaning in a bit to make herself less visible. Searching his face for any reaction, all she saw was a blank frown directed at the world outside.

She tried again. "Tatsumi-san, I apologize for disturbing you, but..."

The youth twisted in his seat with a yelp and stared at her, wide-eyed. Looking quite startled, he gaped at her but he did not respond past that initial reaction.

She swallowed as much of her frustration over the general foolishness of the situation and pointed at the seat beside the blonde. "Forgive the intrusion. This seat is free, correct?"

"Uh," was all that he said. Tatsumi just stared and blinked at her.

Oh. Yes, Tatsumi. She needed to be specific. "May I sit here?" Naoto clarified.

"Uh...y-yeah! 'Course." Kanji straightened his slouch, back pressed against his seat. His head snapped back towards the window, clearly not interested in chatter. Just as well, really, she welcomed the thought of getting some quiet and had hoped for this.

She nodded a stiff thanks, sitting down.

Naoto immediately tugged open the zipper on her bag and pulled out a yellow folder. She pulled out one of the copies regarding a theft Grampa had asked her thoughts on and started to compare her notes on the matter with those of the elder Shirogane. The tool marks at the door to the safe room were indeed strange. Whatever had been used to gain access must have either been made by their thief, or was of a use and function so strange she had not yet considered.

Gazing at the photographs of the scene, she thought she noticed Tatsumi shift in his seat awkwardly a few times. He was likely to be somewhat uncomfortable. Being above average height could be as much a problem on public transit as being… well. She could envision how he felt.

"Naoto-kun!"

Naoto froze, fist clenching tightly around a sheet of paper. _Oh no._

Fixing a glare at her papers, she tilted her head further down so she would not need to see the three girls coming towards her. "Naoto-kun, why'd you run away? We just wanted to say hi!" Did all females have to have such annoyingly high-pitched voices? The squeal from one of the girls as someone tapped the brim of her cap was enough to set her teeth on edge.

"Hello." Naoto frowned at the paper in her fist; uncrumpled the copy; shoved it back in the folder and held the case files shut with both hands. "I believe that concludes matters."

"You wanna hang out with us at Port Island? I bet you've been there before, right?" That sounded like Megumi Enomoto. She had ignored her. She had withdrawn from her. She had made a point of not opening the letters she passed along to her in class. What would it take to make her distance herself?

"As I have stated previously, I have no interest in such activities. Please leave me in peace." Naoto glared at the folder in her lap. "This casework is most pressing."

She felt Tatsumi shift beside her. Why did he not seem to have these issues? He was a handsome enough young man, proportioned well and certainly would have responded to the ministrations of his class mates. Well. Perhaps. Once he could get over his nervousness when speaking to others. Maybe he was about to say something?

"Aw, c'mon, Naoto-kun! You could-"

Another voice interrupted Enomoto here. "Megumi, we don't want to interrupt the Detective Prince, right? Now the killer's been caught, he's probably working on a new big case!"

 _Caught_? Simpletons! They play their foolish games of social stature; they keep her from her work and they happily accept the pre-processed explanations given without any doubt! Caught? If it were that simple, the Shirogane family would not need to bother with their inconsequent little town! She could have moved on to her next case already and would not be sitting in this train, surrounded by the limited mental capacities of hormonal teenagers.

By the time she had riled herself up to the point of reply and brought her pulse down enough to try and give a level answer, Enomoto spoke up again. "I guess." She sounded very hesitant. "But we'll be back later, Naoto-kun, okay?"

 _Here is hoping you won't be._ Naoto sighed softly and pulled her cap down to cover her face fully. She did not trust herself to accidentally ignite the seat in front of her by glaring at it.

Tatsumi cleared his throat. "They still chasing you?"

"Yes. I have dissuaded most of them but those three are very persistent. I left my previous seat to escape their attentions."

There was a moment of quiet. She pushed her cap back up and re-opened her folder. The youth beside her made a small sound as if to reply, but kept silent for a moment longer. "They...uh. They don't mean no harm." He hesitated again before he continued. "They prob'ly just like you."

Still looking down at her papers, she shook her head at that. "You cannot _like_ someone without knowing them."

Getting to know someone takes time and effort. She herself could tell tales of that. Always moving left her with no chance whatsoever to 'like' anyone. She could _appreciate_ certain limited aspects of a person's traits. Say, Dojima-san's approach to work. She also recently learned how easy it is to dislike based on traits. Adachi's carelessness came to mind at once.

However, her work being what it was and her need to be able to move frequently from location to location; from contract to contact… It simply left her with little drive to even build any such social constructs. She had Grampa and the estate. Having that one anchor in her life suited her well enough.

"Tatsumi, would you mind if I-" She turned her head to check if she took too much space, but Tatsumi had zoned out again. He quite possibly had no interest in further conversation and the slight frown pointed to him having his own thoughts he did not intent to share at this time. Instead of repeating her question, she simply re-arranged the files and copies so that she could read them while writing into her note book without bothering the young man.

The rest of the day progressed mostly as expected with one exception.

Naoto was deeply impressed by the scope of Gekkoukan High. She had read up on the school before coming here of course. The Kirijo Group spent a large sum of money to refurbish a disused laboratory into a model High School. New architecture design combined with state-of-the-art specialty rooms for crafts, science and Home Ec. The name selected, "Moonlight Hall", reflected the beauty of the grounds in general.

Shortly after the opening, however, reports started to appear in the local papers that the school suffered from an explosion. After this, there had been a second remodel of the building.

Her lessons at the school had been enjoyable. The cool interior colours focused the mind nicely, allowing students to take in all that was being taught… or would have, if not for those who were seemingly fused to the technology of their mobile phones. She also found herself yet again stoically ignoring written notes others tried to pass on to her. Especially that one with a small heart surrounding the words 'My Prince'.

She would have enjoyed to stay longer, truth be told. The laboratories looked impressive for any high school – even a private one backed by the Kirijo Group. Sadly, their schedule was tight and had left her no time to return for a closer inspection.

She had followed the trek of students to the hotel they were assigned for this weekend. For most of the way she had her head down into one of her new case files, following the others on auto-pilot. The longer they walked down narrow streets, the more she felt puzzled. As the lights overhead turned into garishly coloured neon signs, she stopped trying to read and looked about to get her bearings. They were headed down Shirakawa Boulevard, but this area did not actually have any hostels or –

She swallowed. Hard.

As their teacher took a turn towards one of the neon-lit hourly hotels, Naoto's hand flew to her cap and she tugged the brim down to her eyes. Of all the places their teacher could possibly take a group of already hormonal high schoolers to, it had to be a _love hotel_?

Pinching her eyes shut a moment, she overheard the pleased jeers of her 'fellow male' students, some of whom did not miss out to boast how they could totally get this or that girl to join them in one of these. And she would need to spend two nights with these Romeos.

When she heard a cluster of giggles nearby and raised her cap a sliver, she at once realized that an overabundance of male hormones would only be about 50% of her misery.

Several of the girls had their eyes fixed on Naoto and whispered loudly with one another, blushing furiously in some cases.

 _Double time, Shirogane!_

She grabbed a sheet showing her room assignment, rushing inside to grab a key and hide in the room. Until morning, if she could. On her way she tried to ignore the setting as best she could. The strongly dimmed lighting in eye-straining colours; the speakers throughout the hallways playing hard-thumping music; the vending machined she only needed to glance at once to decide she would not do so a second time…

She reached her room before the other two and decided she would take the chance to unpack and find a sleeping arrangement that would allow her some limited privacy. Once unpacked, she picked up her folders and decided to simply quietly work, while she had the chance.

Her progress had been swift, once she familiarized herself with the cases. One of them she had already finished her theories on and prepared an email to be sent later. The other cases might need a sliver more work.

By the time her two roommates arrived, she had spent a good half hour taking notes and sorting through the papers Grampa had send her. She closed her folder and watched the two boys fall over themselves to claim the remaining space of the room. When one of them proudly started to show off the … goods he had just pulled from the vending machine, Naoto jumped up, nearly spilling her folders' contents to the floor in the process.

"I, eer, I-I…" She cleared her throat, the slight pressure from speaking at a lower register fighting with the panic of embarrassment. "I need to go get some fresh air before bed."

"Don't get caught!" laughed one of her class mates.

"I do not intend to be out past curfew. Our teachers won't-"

"I wasn't talking about the teachers trying to catch you, man." The twin grins haunted her as she stumbled out of the door and plunged into the hallway.

After staring at the closed door for a moment, she turned to wander the hallways. Surely no girl would be bold or hormonal enough to try and sneak onto the boys' floor? Though if she gave in to rumour, the choice of hotel had been based on fancies, rather than any economic reason. Surely this place could not be cheaper than other lodgings. She latched on to that thought. A nice, safe topic to ponder. She could compare prices and locations of different lodgings to follow up on the rumour concerning the selection of their hotel.

She didn't pay as much attention as she possibly should have. Emerging into one of the main hallways of the floor, she felt someone tackle her.

In a first moment of trepidation, she feared one of the girls had actually snuck up and she was on the receiving end of a failed 'glomp'. But as she stumbled sideways, catching her balance to ready herself to fend off whoever it might be, she quickly realized she had no cause for true alarm.

Tatsumi jumped back while stretching one arm out towards her. "Oh, crap! S-sorry, man."

Naoto's back stiffened. "Kanji Tatsumi." She replied with her low, practiced voice. Getting upset at Tatsumi really was not necessary. She had not been paying attention and he was a bit ungainly. None the less. Trying to stand up straight, she felt her shoulders draw forward. He was just _too_ tall. Beside him, she always felt vanishingly small.

Realizing he had not knocked Naoto over, he fidgeted a moment. "You, uh, looking for a vending machine too?" His eyes jumped nervously between her, the walls and the floor. If he could rid himself of his jumpiness around her, he might actually be passable companionship. She also noticed that his stutter was not present. It did not seem to be a real condition in his case, but more of a sign of anxiousness.

"I am not looking for a way to spend any money, no. I am investigating this hotel. I am...uncertain why Ms. Kashiwagi chose these lodgings."

"I-I just want a soda. Maybe some junk food. But the vending machines, they're - uh, weird." He glanced back from where he had come from, and Naoto saw exactly what machine he was looking at.

An uncomfortable heat climbed up her neck. She tucked down her cap and inspected the floor. "You... do know what sort of hotel this is?"

She saw him shuffle his feet and head how his breath caught. "N-no. No way. Wh-why would I?" Ah. The stutter had returned, a certain sign of Tatsumi's discomfort and embarrassment.

She did not feel much better off. The heat was steadily creeping higher and she was certain she was flushed. This was not a topic suited for casual conversation. Especially not between her and a male student of her own school. And him thinking she was 'one of the guys' could make this even more awkward if she was not being careful. Thankfully he had deflected her thoughtless comment.

"Oh. Of course." She half-turned from him. "Well. Good night, Tatsumi." With that she marched herself quickly down the corridor towards the stairwell. A walk in the fresh air might really be needed by now, if only to get rid of some of the heat under her collar.

 **September 9th, 2011**

By early afternoon it seemed like Miss Kashiwagi must have depleted her ideas on how to keep the teens entertained, so the evening was open to everyone's own enjoyment. Naoto had chosen to spend her evening on her own and parted ways with her roommates.

Remembering her investigations here in Tatsumi Port Island, she went to the local mall to talk to Officer Kurosawa. He had been most helpful and did not seem to mind dealing with someone of her own age group at all. He accepted her professional insights and was a pleasure to work with. She briefly wondered if he could consider assisting her in another prefecture and move along the Inaba case.

She was barely inside Paulownia Mall, when she already felt the low thumping of music playing in Club Escapade. Seeing that the station was already closed up for today, she changed her plans and entered the club.

By a stroke of luck not a single other student from the school trip was present. Allowing herself a smile, Naoto went to the bar and hopped on a stool. Running her gaze over the bottles along the wall, she frowned a little. She beckoned to the man minding the counter. "Excuse me, do you serve anything non-alcoholic?"

The barkeeper turned to her and nodded. "Serve nothin' else these days. We had a lot of issues with drunk drivers not long ago, so most of the clubs and bars here agreed to remove alcohol from the menu, including us and the karaoke place across. If you wanna get wasted, you'll need to go into the town center, though I doubt they'd let you into licensed premises."

She ignored the comment pointed at her age. "A very forward-thinking decision to make. Has your business suffered from this at all?"

"Actually, no. Folks still come here to have fun and dance and hang out in the back rooms, y'see? So now we offer more snacks and food. We also changed to make non-alcoholic cocktails and stuff. People love it. They can have a good time while stayin' safe. Mind, some people just wanna go get drunk. They can go do that somewhere where they don' need to drive."

She smiled. "Sounds perfect to me. Would you mix me one of these new cocktails, please?"

"Gotcha, buddy, I'll be right back."

The smile melted from her lips and she turned to watch the dance floor. For a Friday night, it was pretty tame still. Most patrons would possibly arrive later in the night and stay till morning.

"Here it is! Tell me how ya like it, man."

She turned back and picked up the tumbler. The liquid in it looked vaguely like whiskey, but the first sip let her know it was a non-carbonated ginger ale… and something else. Bitter. "Interesting."

"It's a Stormy Monday. Too strong for ya?"

"I was not expecting the bitterness. But I think I will enjoy this. Thank you."

"You bet. I'll be back there if you need somethin'." He turned and walked back along the bar to some other customers and leaned on the counter to chat with them.

Naoto stared in her glass for a long while.

Grampa had asked her to not think about the Inaba case while out here. It is why he even agreed to provide her with the three case files she had with her. According to him, she should enjoy the 'experience' of being a student on a field trip. Her consciousness did not work that way. She needed to feel busy, needed to feel engaged. She had worked off the cases she brought along and emailed him earlier in the day already. Now that her attention was without immediate focus, she could not help thinking about the work still ahead of her once she returned.

She swirled the tumbler slowly, listening to the clear ice cubes plink against the glass.

How would she get into the social circles she needed to be in? Approaching Tatsumi seemed the most logical thing to do. They had previous dealings and he would be the least suspicious if she were to approach him. He also had a certain restlessness she found could be easily manipulated, should the need arise.

How did one get introduced into bigger social circles? She frowned into her glass and started to sip.

"Hey, it's him!"

She froze. A young, male voice. And a familiar one, too. She looked up and turned to her left. _Speak of the devil… or even think of him._ "My, I never expected to run into you at this locale. Is it permitted for high school students such as yourselves to be here?" She turned on her stool, moving the tumbler into her right hand.

She ran her eyes over the group of students. The very people she had just been thinking of were all here. Kujikawa, Satonaka, and Amagi up front. Hanamura and Narukami brought up the rear. All of them were still in their school uniforms. It took her a few moments to notice Kanji Tatsumi lurking behind them in the shadows. He was… not in uniform. _A tank top. With a... Flaming skull. Huh._

Hanamura-senpai, easily flustered as always, replied first. "Wh-What!? Dude, look who's talking! You were here before we were!" He frowned for a moment. "But why are … Oh. That's right...I guess if the first-years came on the trip, you'd be here too..."

"Yes, senpai, we do attend the same school and are indeed on the same excursion." She tried to speak in her practiced, level tone, ignoring the slow rise of indignation. Hanamura managed to find all the wrong buttons to push. And from what she had seen when observing him, he had an uncanny talent for upsetting even his friends.

She gestured with an open hand towards the club in general. "The clientele here seems above-board, so I don't expect there'll be any problems." She hesitated a moment and glanced at the counter before her. "It's not as if I was otherwise preoccupied."

On one hand, this would be a great opportunity to get herself involved with this group. She could 'hang out', examine the group dynamic better, and learn how the internal social structure and ranking is laid.

On the other… she had no indication how one actually invited oneself into any social structure. Up until this case, integrating herself had never been part of any ongoing investigation and she was woefully underprepared on the subject matter of 'making friends', even in a pretended fashion.

It was the girls of this group who solved her dilemma in an unexpected fashion. Amagi-senpai gave her a warm smile and stepped forward. "Why don't you join us?"

"Are you...asking me to stay?" While fortuitous, this was way faster than she was actually prepared for. She had not readied herself; had no questions prepared; had not yet found the basic socially accepted processes in this group…

Amagi simply smiled. "Uh-huh. We didn't get to chat last time."

A rebuke. Even if a polite one, she had already made mistakes. How could she find a way into this group if mistakes had already shaded her image negatively? "Ah...I...I-It's just that I had some matters to attend to that day."

"Well, you're free now, right? You just said so yourself and you look so bored! I was really eager to talk to you. I'm curious how someone my age is working as a detective!" Bubbly and enthusiastic, Kujikawa skipped forward. And stopped way too close in front of Naoto, who leaned back slowly.

"How about it?" Amagi gave her an expectant look.

Naoto glanced at her drink. At the bottles on the shelf behind the bar. At the floor. Her mind tried to keep up with everything around her. The curiosity in the eyes of the teens in front of her; her own expectations; her need to mesh with them to further her own needs… All of this combined with the loud thumping of the music seemed to slow her through process to the speed of freezing honey.

"Hmmm...Very well, if you insist." She mumbled.

"Huh? What's up?" Hanamura-senpai cupped a hand behind his ears.

"I think I would like that." Naoto repeated louder, followed by a long swig of her drink.

"Heh. You sure? You look a little red..." He gave the detective a sly wink.

"Th-That's not true!" Roughly her hand grabbed her cap and tugged it down.

She picked up her glass and slid off the bar stool, hopping to the ground lightly. She heard Kujikawa skip off to get a VIP room reserved, while noticing Hanamura-senpai turn to Tatsumi and talking quietly to him. She saw him glance over to the bar a moment, then spinning back and staring hard at the dance floor. Seeing how he was dressed, he might have preferred to actually dance over simply sitting in a VIP area. Well. Nothing would keep him if he wanted some more excitement. She was sure he could get his enjoyment from the evening just as much.


	8. Chapter 8

_As you will have noticed in the last chapter already, we have another deviation from how zero-damage wrote. The bar scene was straight out of the anime. Reason for this: It's been several years now, folks have seen the anime, played golden and so on. I'll be pulling from the anime or golden anticipating that us weirdo fans have slurped it all up. However, no Marie. Simply cannot expand enough. I may run another plot line sometime with Marie in it, but it will be outside of Shortest /Distance/ Formula. :)_

 _Also, you have spoken, Kanji will get his interludes._

 _Thanks to zero-damage on reddit for reading my scribbles first! And thanks to all comments, hope I'm keeping you entertained. :)_

* * *

 _Okay, Shirogane, be careful what you wish upon people, because you may have jinxed Tatsumi._

The evening so far was not to her linking, really. She had no idea how to introduce herself into the conversation, as the topics seemed too flimsy to even try and contribute. She had been ushered to sit with Satonaka-senpai and Kujikawa-san. The latter of which kept trying to wrap herself all over Naoto. By now, she did not know what to do except physically pushing her co-student aside. Or maybe handcuffing her to the nearest table.

Several of the group seemed openly uncomfortable by the bizarre behavior of their friends as well. Both Satonaka and Hanamura groaned at the suggestion of playing the 'King's Game'. Naoto was familiar with it, thankfully, as the explanations that Kujikawa and Amagi gave were lacking.

And the first round already seemed to be problematic, when Teddie plucked the red-marked chopsticks from the glass.

Focusing on the game and not having picked a pair herself – she wanted to observe the group before involving herself in their games – she simply leaned back and watched as the demand for a kiss was made. It seemed Kanji Tatsumi was the unlucky participant.

While she had no idea whatsoever why the slender blonde boy had hinted at a romantic interest Tatsumi might habour for him (was 'being after my fuzzy fur' some kind of code?); the tackle seemed unnecessary. Not only that, but she jumped up when she head the crash of Tatsumi colliding hard with a nearby table, going under in a jumble of said table, glasses, chairs and Teddie-san.

Hanamura-senpai, Amagi-senpai and Kujikawa-san doubled over laughing.

Satonaka-senpai and Narukami-senpai simply got up and pulled Teddie-san off Tatsumi. He still tried to cling to the teen, making _kissie-sounds_ at him and complaining loudly that the King had not yet gotten his wish. He struggled free once and pressed his lips hard on Tatsumi's face before they finally managed to pull him away.

" _Jeez_ , Teddie! You're such an idiot sometimes!" Satonaka complained loudly.

"Enough, Ted!" Narukami held him back, pulling him to the couch.

Why was no one concerned for Tatsumi-san? He had gone down hard and he might actually have hurt himself. Yet between laughter and fussing over Teddie, no one paid him any attention.

Naoto frowned. Out of all of the ones present, Tatsumi was the most familiar to her and she would not accept him carrying possibly serious injuries due to the negligence of his peers. She squeezed past Kujikawa, dodging her hands grasping at her hips; hopped over the legs of a still-laughing Hanamura and approached Tatsumi.

"Fuh… fuzzy fur!" That wheeze sounded like Amagi behind her.

Naoto strode up to the prone teen and kneeled beside Tatsumi. "Are you injured?"

Tatsumi tried to sit up, seemingly flustered and confused. Failing that, he tried to roll on his side and push himself up on all fours – which he also failed, simply ending up scrabbling at the floor tiles. "No!" his voice hitched to a strained high pitch, "No! I'm fine!"

' _Fine'_ was not failing to coordinate ones' movements. ' _Fine'_ also was not being unable to simply move into a seated position. And ' _fine'_ , she concluded, did not include what looked like a trickle of blood forming over his right temple. She reached forward to check if she saw correctly.

"Uh, s'okay. I-I'm fine."

She simply pressed her lips together and continued moving forward, her hand connecting with his temple, trying to run her hands through his hair. There was no cut visiable on his skin, so it would be behind his hairline.

He jerked back sharply. "Whoa, whoa! N-Naoto, what're -"

She froze where she was, kneeling, her hand outstretched and sighed. "I would think that was obvious."

His eyes looked slightly larger. She saw how he paled, too, the coloured lights all around them flashing brighter across his face. "You can't - seriously, man, not here!"

Naoto glanced around the club and the many light flickering and reflecting from mirrored surfaces. The provided illumination would indeed make it hard to see enough. He had a point. "...You are right." Biting the corner of her lip, she pondered where a better source of light could be found. The mall was not well lit during the late hours and even at the bar the lighting was flashing in different shades of darker colours. There was really only one place where she could expect to find any kind of steady lighting. "The restroom, then."

"R-R-Restroom?" His stammer had returned.

Not a good sign, really, he could still be seriously injured. And his complexion seemed nearing white now, blood draining from his face.

Time was wasting, and she worried he would faint any moment. She nodded brusquely and encouraged Tatsumi to get on his feet. His _friends_ still had made no move to assist him. Or her. No one came to offer helping Tatsumi to his feet or worry about him. Her previous thought of him not being fully integrated into the group resurfaced. Maybe he simply was not yet trusted enough to be someone they would feel concern over.

She urged him down the stairs, across the dance floor and towards the restrooms. Pulling him inside, her eyes adjusted to the steady, white lighting of neon bulbs above them. "Much better," Naoto said, staring up at the ceiling lights with a hand on her hip. "I'll be able to investigate more closely."

She heard him swallow hard and turned to face him. Was he feeling sick? "So - uh -wh-what do we -"

Looking up for a moment she considered trying to reach up, but her dignity balked at the thought. Naoto pointed at the floor. "Kneel down, please."

Tatsumi blinked.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "On the floor, Tatsumi?"

"Y-you want me to go first?" he choked out. "But I've never..."

 _Never_ …? He had a scar from an old head wound. Clearly that 'never' was either not connected to "I've never had a head injury before", or he was grasping for a way out of the examination still. Tatsumi clearly underestimated his potential injury as well. Were all her peer so careless and foolish? The lack of concern was either gross under-estimation… or an indicator of how serious he was injured.

"Tatsumi." She gazed up and him, forcing her tone to stay as neutral as she possibly could. This wasn't the time to try and bully him. "There is blood on your forehead. So, yes, I would need you to kneel down first. I cannot check the severity of your injury if you do not kneel on the floor." She turned away and glared at the sink. "I am…" Saying it set her teeth on edge. "I am considerably shorter than you."

Tatsumi's hand flew to his forehead. He stared at the red smear his hand came away with and his knees seemed to give way under him. "Uh. Okay. H-here."

She turned and nodded at him. "Thank you. I believe the damage is minor, but all head wounds should be taken seriously."

She walked up to him, tilting his head back. Holding his head steady, a hand gently cupping each cheek, she moved to stand over him, blocking the light from above. Watching his eyes closely, she shifted her weight slowly from side to side; letting the light from above shine directly into one eye, then the other. The pupils constricted normally against the bright lights and relaxed normally when her head cast a shadow on him. His earlier paleness had vanished but now was being replaced at alarming rate with redness. "You are flushed. Do you feel sick or dizzy?"

"N-no. M'good."

Naoto hummed. Very gently she tilted his head forward and ran her fingers along the small gash just behind his hairline. The cut appeared minor after all and she found no swelling of any of the surrounding tissue aside from what the cut had caused. Pulling a handkerchief from her pocket with one hand, she began dabbing at the cut. "You should apply antiseptic when we return to the hotel."

Tatsumi nodded mutely.

She continued to gaze at the cut, very gently moving her kerchief along the cut, applying regular, even pressure. If she frowned, it was simply because of the thoughts going through her head. Why had his peers not taken any interest in his injury? Had they all missed the blood droplet forming? Why the fixation on the other boy? Was he younger than them? Or was it perhaps his image as a tough guy that led them to ignore a possible injury? He did have a matching scar on the side of his head already. Maybe they felt he would not appreciate them noticing his injury? But even with all of this in mind, letting any friend carry any injury was not-

"So, uh - d'you like Yukiko-senpai?"

Naoto stopped. "...What?"

Tatsumi found his voice once more after a moment. "Yukiko Amagi. Y-y'think she's cute?"

That was a sudden change in topic. She tried to peer into his eyes again, but he avoided looking up at her. She shook her head and gently turned his head sideways again, re-applying pressure to the cut. "I really wouldn't know. I have no interest in such things."

"Not - even a little bit?"

"My work leaves little time for entanglements." Her voice took a cold edge. That was part of tonight's' problem as well. Maybe her peers would have simply ignored the injury. Maybe she had missed all social queues already by looking after Tatsumi and ensuring he was all right. How could someone, who could not even make time for friends possibly consider anything else? "But why did you ask? Are you pursuing Amagi-senpai?" Had she missed this in her observations so far?

"N-no! No way! Just, guys go for her, that's all!"

She hesitated and looked down at him, then looked up and stared into nothinness for a few moments. She conjured up a mental image of the young Amagi she had observed in town and at school so far. Demure, polite, finely limbed Amagi-senpai. She could see it. The long, black hair, the way she moved. "Oh." Yes, she could see it in her minds' eye now. The very image of a future girlfriend and wife. "I - suppose they must."

Kanji swallowed loud enough for her to hear. "But not me. I don't."

Not that it mattered much if Tatsumi did or did not. It had no impact onto her investigation. Well, maybe a small possible impact. If he had a romantic interest, finding time with him for further interviews might need more planning.

Naoto finally pulled her handkerchief away without any fresh blood strains. "The cut has stopped bleeding," she said, stepping back. She placed her hand on her hip again. "I suggest you show more caution in future."

"Wasn't my fault, man! It's Teddie, he was-"

The restroom door swung open and banged into the wall. Strutting into the room, wearing a huge smirk, was Yosuke Hanamura. He stood and crossed his arms, looking from her to Tatsumi and back again.

"Wow, Naoto-kun. You're eager." Naoto grunted. _Shirogane-san_. Just once? Could they behave like adults _just_ _once_?

Hanamura-senpai turned to Tatsumi, still smirking. "First Teddie, now Naoto - you're a lucky guy, Kanji!"

She creased her forehead in a small frown. Now suddenly they got worried? "Well, yes, he appears to have suffered no permanent damage, but..." How long had they been gone? Had it taken a long time for the bleeding to stop? Maybe she should check once more if there was noticeable swelling. If they had been here for longer than perhaps 10 minutes-

Hanamura giggled. "I mean, dragging another guy into the restroom at a nightclub... just, wow, you know?"

What on earth was he babbling about? Had it not been clear that they had been unable to see in the flashing, coloured lights upstairs? Of course she had to take him somewhere else and… and… And she was posing as a male. Taking another male into the restroom of a club. To be secluded. Without explaining her motive. "Oh. _Oh_." Hanamura- He thought… They were under the impression that-

"It - it ain't like that, okay?" Tatsumi stammered, trying to get to his feet again.

Naoto took two long, quick steps backwards, bumping against the sink. "No, it really, really - Hanamura-senpai, I was just - Tatsumi might have been injured, and-" Why did he imply-? What kind of infantile nonsense was this? At least she had cared enough to investigate the injury and- "I-I will be outside," she muttered, and marched out the bathroom door.

* * *

"Where's Shenpai? He's...so aweshome!" Naoto winced slightly at the squeal that came from Kujikawa. Her voice in general wasn't overly pleasant, but when she was exhilarated, it seemed she could pierce ear drums without even trying.

"I told you already, he's takin' back Teddie and Yukiko-senpai," Tatsumi muttered. "'Cause you're all idiots."

Naoto would agree with his assessment.

The rest of the evening had turned into a waste of time. When they left the club, Tatsumi had taken on Kujikawa, hoisting her to his back and carrying her through the night-darkened streets. Smuggling her into the hotel without waking up every single soul was going to be more excitement than she had signed up for.

This night had turned out all kinds of more than she signed up for in some regards, while being so much less than she had hoped for. Naoto sighed.

Tatsumi turned his head and looked down at her. "Hey...you okay, man?"

She nodded, without looking up.

After she had returned, taking her seat besides Kujikawa (unthinking, she should have realized she'd spend the next thirty minutes fending her advances off again) and enduring more implications of two young men hiding in a public restroom, she had been roped into their foolish game. The thought that she could perhaps use it to start tapping into more information crossed her mind, so she played along. Only to be mocked and lied to.

The whole playing-at-being-drunk might actually also be part of the foolishness that followed. Entering television sets. Fighting monsters. The classic "teenagers save the world"-scenario. They couldn't come up with anything better than that?

Kujikawa twisted against Tatsumi's back. Her hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, prompting a non-verbal complaint from the tall blonde. "Aw...ish Naoto-kun down?"

But as obviously a false trail as this was, why would they spin such a story? Had they somehow created this entire night as a way to mislead her? Why would they simply mock her like this? It was suspicious. It was almost as if they wanted to muddy the waters while she meant to follow them.

"I am fine." she quipped.

"I got shomething to make you feel better!" Kujikawa apparently tried to drop her voice to a whisper. It came out close to a high-pitched squeak. "I know a secret. Yoshuke-shenpai told me."

Naoto sighed and tucked her cap down. "If it is similar to Yukiko-senpai's, I am not interested."

"No, no! It's a gooood one, I promish," the former idol slurred, ending with a giggle that turned into a hiccup. "Kanji-kun likes- -"

Tatsumi jolted her, skipping a few steps and hopping, bouncing her hard on his back. "I d-don't like anything! Shut your mouth!"

Naoto glanced sideways at the other two first-years and frowned. Again, a possibly-see-through lie? But this time Tatsumi interfered. Why? Did he want to stop the lies? Was he actually on her side somehow after all?

She pinched her eyes shut when Kujikawa squeaked happily once more.

Would they end the night being expelled?

"As discussed earlier," Naoto said, with a small shake of her head, "we should take care to avoid the faculty on our arrival at the hotel. It will be very difficult to convince them that Rise-san is not truly inebriated."

Tatsumi gave her a startled look. "You...you were serious? About the bar not serving alcohol?"

"You drank the same as me, Hanamura… and everyone else. You feel okay, do you not?"

"Uh, well, y-yeah…"

"I have no idea what idiocy is affecting your friends," Naoto muttered darkly.

He sighed. "Me neither." .

* * *

Her patience had run dry about two hours earlier. She was tired, she was annoyed and she _did not_ need Rise Kujikawa on her, groping at her while trying to get up off of her.

"Sh-shorry, Naoto-kun," she mumbled, scrabbling at the floor and Naoto, trying to push herself up.

The detective squirmed, trying to dodge the groping hands. "Kuh-Kujikawa-san, please remove yourself from-"

"Okay, Rise, bedtime!" Satonaka, who had appeared to help them deposit their possibly-drunk encumbrance into her room, slipped her hands under the other girl's arms and yanked her to her feet. "You've given these guys enough trouble for one night."

"Aw, Chie-shenpai, I gotta 'pologize to Naoto-kun!"

"No need," muttered Naoto, as she pulled himself into a sitting position. She lifted her hand to tuck down her cap, found it missing, and cast a panicked look about the blue-and-purple lit hallway.

Tatsumi bend towards her, offering a hand. "Uh...you okay?"

"Fine," Naoto said, cheeks flushed pink, pointedly not taking the proffered hand. She pointed at Kujikawa's feet. "P-pass me my cap, please."

She heard the two girls bustle into their room, the door snapping shut behind them, while she took her cap from the blonde teen and scrambled to her feet quickly.

Not at all the success story she had envisioned this night could become. Kujikawa's hands had been pressed squarely against her chest once. If she had been of clearer mind, she could have easily realized that the taut feeling under her hands were not pectorals. Add to that the lies they had tried to feed her.

All of it fed the detective's sudden worry that there could very well be more than one teenaged murderer in Inaba.

"Uh. Th-Thanks for helpin' bring her back." Tatsumi stared at the floor, casting only the briefest of glances at her.

She looked up at the blonde for a moment and nodded stiffly. He still had been polite. She had no reason to let her mood impact her communication with him. She looked back towards the floor herself. "You should return to your room now. You are sharing with Hanamura-senpai, Narukame-senpai and your friend Teddie, correct?" Teddie. Who was not a student. And so far, all students rooming together were of the same classes. But not these three. Four now. "How did you engineer that?" she asked, glancing at him.

The youth stiffened a moment. "T-the other guy they were sharing with dropped out last minute. So I figured it'd be okay. And Ted, he-he's just visiting, it's not like-"

She held out the palms of her hands. "Do not worry. I will not inform the faculty members." Naoto let out a long breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "But you must understand, it seems suspicious that you are all-" She stopped short and raised her head to look Tatsumi in the eye. He _had_ been helpful. And he seemed to actually be different from the other teens. She could not afford to close that door; lose this one possible ally she had. Or clue him in on her new suspicions. "I apologize, Tatsumi-san. I am tired."

"You goin' back to your room too?"

"Later. I must ensure my roommates are asleep." Going to sleep with her bindings was a problem in itself. She had to ensure that she slipped into bed without them seeing her, _and_ that she would get up before them.

"You, uh, you want some company?"

Naoto shook her head. "No." _I'm sorry, Tatsumi, but I have more to think of now, than I had when I started this evening._

"Oh. Right." He shuffled his feet, as if turning to leave, hesitating, and then wanting to move again. "Well...g'night."

With a quick nod, Naoto turned to move away. She had only taken a few couple of steps, when she heard him clear his throat.

"Yo, Naoto...uh, wait a sec." Tatsumi called out

Naoto glanced back, one eyebrow arched. "Hmm?"

"That, that stuff you were saying back at the club. 'Bout your family and being a detective." He paused. "I-I thought it was cool."

 _Cool_. Naoto looked at him for a long moment, trying to find out where that had come from. It seemed out of place, for the situation, for the content of her narrative, for the time of night. However, it did seem what she had grown to understand as ' _classic Tatsumi'_. His social awkwardness combined with her own made a strange mixture at times. She sighed quietly, deciding to take his comment as an offering of solidarity. "I appreciate your sentiment. I wasn't sure what else to say. I have no talent for jokes or anecdotes."

"S'okay. Y-you were just tryin' to make friends, right?"

She tensed up at the word. "No. I am in Inaba solely to solve a murder case." This was not for the social entanglement that came with friendships. This was information gathering. It was almost akin to espionage. She squared up in the hallway and turned to fully face him. "And I know you and your colleagues are somehow involved. I simply thought that if I... if I was honest with you all, perhaps you would..." Her words trailed off.

 _What am I doing? I am being careless. Foolish_. She wasn't sure about her feeling concerning Tatsumi yet. He might still be an ally. But right now, there was simply no knowing and she should not rope him in to her plans just yet. "As I said, I am tired. I will see you tomorrow."

Not sure she could trust herself to stop her exposition a third time, she turned to the stairway and headed towards the lobby.


	9. Chapter 9

_Surprise-chapter, cutesy of zero-damage of reddit who had time to do his thing early._

 _Thanks for the feedback, as always. It's getting darker and grimmer again, just hang in there while we watch poor Naoto obsess more and more._

* * *

 **September 11th, 2011**

Naoto woke an hour before dawn the day after their excursion.

Considering the state of her bed - a pillow on the floor; one pillow crumpled behind her; her sheets and blankets tangled - she must have had very animate dreams. However, as she blankly stared at the ceiling, she could not remember a single moment or image of what her night had brought. _Possibly for the better._

She slowly pushed herself up into a seated position, running her hands over her face and through her hair. Her still-packed bag was discarded by the bedroom door. Her clothes strewn carelessly between door and bed. She had barely pulled on her pajama top before crawling into bed.

They had not arrived that late yesterday, but she felt drained and exhausted after entering her apartment. Frankly, she still did.

Her rooms were still in the same unruly state they had been in before she left on her trip. Clothing, papers, files on disk, discarded food wrappers – everything was a jumble. But at least she had not slept in her clothing, and even made it to her own bed instead of passing out on the couch again.

Most of yesterday, when she had the time to herself and wasn't being dragged about by Kujikawa-san, she spent pondering. The biggest question to solve right now: Could the murderer come from this group of teens; and if so, who was the originator and who was a follower?

With an exhausted sigh, she pulled herself from her bed and put on the missing pajama piece. Picking a patch around the disorder in her rooms, she made her way to the kitchen to salvage a Mad Bull from the fridge. _Down to three cans now. Shopping may be a necessity soon_.

Turning back to her living room, she opened her can. And stopped.

Naoto still refused to call it a _mess_ , but… well. All available surfaces were covered in files and copies, maps and pictures. The floor. The table. It had even started to creep into her shelves. Anywhere she looked, things seemed to pile up without any sense or order, but in truth, she had a very specific structure in all of this. She _did_. For her new theory she would need a new space to start.

She drank, then thoughtfully caught the corner of her lower lip between her teeth. _Over there, by the wall near the hallway._

She stepped over copies, pulled her foot through a stack of files to move them away a bit and made enough space to sit down. She pulled a note pad and pen from a neighboring sheaf of papers and lowered herself into sitting cross-legged. After another sip from her can, she started to catch her thoughts on paper as they stampeded through her brain.

 _Amagi. Had access to first victim. Attended school with second victim. Quiet. Composed. Well-mannered._

She scratched her neck with the back of the pen.

 _Hanamura. Supervisor of Konishi. Goes to class with Amagi. No known contact to first victim._

After a moment's thought, she connected the two with a line.

 _Satonaka. Inseparable from / close friend of Amagi. Very fit, possibly high physical prowess. Executive of the plot? Attends school with Hanamura and Amagi._

Another line was drawn, from Satonaka to Amagi. Then she continued to connect Satonaka and Hanamura.

 _Narukami. Transfer student. Nephew of Dojima-san. Most likely to have known the announcer Yamano from television. Considerable if we go by 'foreign element'-theory. Attends school with H A and S_

More lines were added, linking the four cluters.

She pulled a line to divide the paper up in two halves and went on.

 _Tatsumi. Very fit. Appears easily bullied or swayed by others. Volatile temperament. Could be cohered or could have lost temper. Known to Konishi family. Befriended? Access to second victim?_

She tapped the paper with her pen before hesitantly starting to draw a line, stopping after a moment and removing her pen from the paper again.

 _Kujikawa._

Naoto laid her pen on the pad and frowned. Neither Tatsumi nor Kujikawa seemed directly involved in this. And the youth-icon only appeared in Inaba after the murders. She could not be directly involved. None of the previous investigations had turned up any connection bringing her into the picture. Adding her now was preposterous.

She drew a line through Kujikawa.

 _Teddy. Unknown factor._

No background. No police records. And he, too, had only recently started showing up. After a moment's hesitation, she crossed out his name, too.

She picked up the can and drank slowly, looking at her notes. Haltingly she added _Kubo_ to the lower part of the paper.

 _Kubo. Different high school. Apparently not in the circle of friends from YH. Unknown connection to the teens. Teens were present at Kubo's arrest, however. Framed?_

She should find out if there was any further connection between these students. So far, she had not tried to investigate into Kubo's friends, providing he had any.

Her eyes wandered over the paper, back to the entry about Tatsumi.

Kanji Tatsumi. She could not picture him actually harming a woman. He was rough and loud and had a quick temper. But in each encounter with him, he seemed quiet and almost shy. However, simply discarding him based on a mere faint feeling of esteem towards the youth was a poor investigative approach.

Still, that intuitive feeling remained. If he was involved… he would have been made a tool by someone else.

Who would this someone else be? She picked up the pen again and tapped it on the note pad. Well, she saw Satonaka and Amagi visit him more than once. Further, Amagi was known to the Tatsumi family and quite possibly a regular customer herself. He also had brought her up while she inspected his cut scalp, so she must be on his mind for one reason or another.

With a sigh, she quickly drew a line between Tatsumi and Amagi.

From what Naoto had seen so far, Satonaka seemed to have a very protective stance towards Amagi. If something had happened to put Amagi into a compromised position, she would have taken action. _So that leaves me with… Hm. Narukami._

She raked her brain for anything at all that she could add to his side of the scales to make him a viable subject. But he had arrived only shortly before the first murder, had no access to the victims beforehand and was likely to be under supervision during his first fortnight while living with his uncle.

Naoto crossed out Narukami.

She got back on her feet and dodged some more piles of papers on her way towards the bathroom. Draining the Mad Bull and tossing it carelessly into the trashcan there, she turned on the shower. She still felt edgy and restless. Maybe a quick shower would help get her thoughts on the correct route.

* * *

When the shower did not have the desired effect, Naoto got dressed and went out to wander the slowly waking town for a bit.

Naoto enjoyed high places. The view overlooking an area one gets from them, such as when climbing on a tree, was the absolute of the meaning 'changing perspective' to her. It helped her think, and as such she located the nearest rise over Inaba and started to stroll up. The sun had yet to come up behind the mountains as she left her apartment and she cool morning air had the delicate tang of early fall to it.

Her thoughts were still on her new theory. Was the true murderer one of the teens here in Inaba?

She was certain that she had narrowed it down to the correct names. Either one of the three; Amagi, Satonaka or Tatsumi; could be the perpetrator, or be involved in knowledge of the crime. Or, indeed, all three were somehow involved.

 _Scenario_. Amagi wishes to harm Yamano. She ensures the opportunity and security of the place where the deed can be done. And in doing so somehow manages to escape the police. This gives Satonaka an opening to-

No. The police reports on her and her interviews showed nothing that would allow for that line of reasoning. Further, there was no motive.

Lifting her eyes from the sidewalk, she gazed to the mountains bordering the town on the far side of her hill. The sun had still not capped the peaks. She pulled up the collar of her shirt and turned towards the stairs leading up to the lookout point.

 _Scenario_. Amagi voices a complaint or concern to Satonaka. Satonaka, seemingly uninvolved and thus not under observation by the police, secures Yamano and strikes at first opportunity. Being unable to arrange the near-ritualistic location of the body, she brings in Tatsumi to finalize-

No. No traces of any one, much less two people were found at the site. At least according to the records provided by the Inaba police. She still had her doubts that this had been recorded properly. If Adachi had been in charge of this, no one was likely to ever know. Further, the Amagi Inn had been quite busy before the murder. Assaulting Yamano there would cause some form of commentary.

She wandered on, eyeing the gazebo at the hill top and realizing she was headed towards it. Ignoring the gazebo to instead stand by the fence surrounded the hilltop; Naoto pushed her cap back and leaned lightly against the fence surrounding the site.

 _Scenario_. Amagi finds compromising evidence of further the ongoing scandal while working at the inn. She and Satonaka try their hands at blackmail; fail, and have to scramble to resolve the matter. As they move the body, they are seen by Konishi, and they bring in Tatsumi to…

 _No, no, no._ This also fails on the point of no traces.

Naoto frowned, leaning heavily against the fence. She also still could not shake the feeling that Tatsumi had nothing to do with this. But why she felt that way, she could not say. She had no proof that could be used to provide Tatsumi with an alibi – yet. She intended to search each of the three she singled out for motives, police records, and possible favorable circumstances they could have used.

She just had this … vague perception that Tatsumi simply was not the kind of person to be involved in this. As much as she hated to think in generalized terms; maybe that police officer a few months ago was correct. Tatsumi was no killer. He was a loudmouth, he was brash, and he had a temper if provoked. But he did not appear violent or unhinged enough to murder anyone.

His police records also do not indicate such dangerous behavior during previous encounters or any cautions that they would expect it in the future.

This meant her investigation should start with Satonaka. So far both she herself and the police had ignored the teen, so this could be the piece that had been missing from the overall depiction of the case; the element she had been hunting for in the last months.

All of this had started when she asked for help – but was hindered by the very people she had wanted to recruit into assisting her. Each encounter that resulted in their dismissal of her questions; every talk that turned into an attempt to attack her instead. They added up in her mind to a very guilty conscience. The desperate attempt to hide something from her.

But they had since done worse. They had mocked her. She was even more convinced now then she was two nights ago, that 'being drunk' was an act put on by the teens involved, too.

Emerging from her reflections, she heard steps crunch to a halt and turned her head. Tatsumi. Had he followed her? Was this where her estimation of him would be proven wrong after all?

 _Wonderful, Shirogane. Paranoid now, too? It's the same hesitant teen you bid fare-well at the station yesterday afternoon, after convincing him you'd manage quite well to return to your residence on your own._ Not only that, she was very aware of her surroundings at all times. When she had arrived here, there was no one else. All along the way here she had been alone. He had simply chosen to appear here.

"Tatsumi," she said with a nod.

"Uh...hey." While he had appeared like he wanted to walk away again immediately, he slowly came closer, stopping some five meters from her. He slid his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders against a brief breeze. "You... uh, enjoying the weather?" He sounded helpless as he asked. No wonder, the sky was hung thick with grey clouds. The only reason she knew the sun had passed the mountain range was that now the clouds looked a little brighter.

 _The weather, apotheosis of a failing attempt at small talk._ She turned back to look over the town. "Not particularly."

He looked up into the clouds. "Oh. Right."

She _wanted_ to be more cordial with Tatsumi. He seemed like her best chance at finding a way out of this whole situation; the one to provide the last missing puzzle stones. But how deeply was he in league with the others? And how much could she trust him, if he really was involved?

"That trip was kinda neat, right?" he said quietly.

Naoto considered another honest answer to this one, but shifted forward to lean ponderously against the fence instead. She directed her frown at the Samagawa valley. Inaba was quiet at this time of morning. She saw few cars, heard nearly no noise carry through the dale up to the hill.

She fought a sudden surge of bitterness. Right here was the one person she had hoped to engage with to help her solve the Inaba case; an insider who could have cleared the situation up for her. But he, too, had proven unhelpful. In a mix of awkward and unhelpful, none of the teens she had encountered so far seemed to actually want to solve anything. And despite the outburst of both Hanamura and Kujikawa, she only saw a group of regular teens, playing foolish games. She saw no 'investigation team' in action; she saw no drive to solve anything. Only children playing at being involved in the world of adults.

Suddenly, Tatsumi had one of his random outbursts.

"Dammit, why're you-" She tensed a moment, readying herself against what the shift in temperament would bring. But the moment he snapped, his mouth clicked shut again. She didn't move to look at him and was rewarded for waiting out the storm of his emotions when he subsequently muttered "What's wrong?"

 _What's wrong, Tatsumi, is you. What's wrong is your group of friends. What's wrong is, in fact, everything._ She scowled at the thoughts that formed as an immediate reply and thanked her tongue for holding that counter back.

When Naoto had collected herself enough to reply, her voice was flat and quiet. Tired, too, if she were honest with herself. "None of you are willing to help."

She head him shift, as if he wanted to step forward. "Help with what?"

She ignored his question. " _Nor_ are you willing to be honest. If you were-" She shook her head, and tugged at the collar of her carefully tailored shirt. "Personas, shadows, televisions. Diversionary nonsense."

She pulled at her cap, bringing the brim further down still. She had arrived in the Yasogami prefecture with one goal in mind. Assist in solving a murder case. Possibly also further preventing harm to the people living in this town. And below them lay that city. Peaceful, quiet Inaba. Where the police were focused on bringing in any suspect at all, so long as they could pin the problem on them. A scapegoat which could allow the true murderer to escape justice.

And with her… one of the other group who were trying to prevent her from this goal. These children did not fully grasp the gravity of this situation. It possibly went back to them thinking this was a game, despite their protests regarding that observation several weeks ago.

Both she and Tatsumi had seemed lost in their own thoughts for a while. He had his lips pressed together, staring at the ground, at her, at the gazebo. He sounded unsure when he replied finally. "It - it ain't like that, Naoto."

No denial from him. But no confirmation of facts, either. Was this enough to try and recruit his help, maybe one last time?

"Tatsumi." Naoto still could not look at him. She needed to get an endorsement to her gut feeling first and could not afford the distraction of seeing his reaction to her question. Her instincts rebelled at the thought that he was embroiled in her grim theories. She wanted him to be her key, wanted him to be trustworthy. But wishes made for poor proof.

She leaned back a bit, her hands tightly around the top bar of the fence. "What is your involvement in this matter?"

The reply came quickly, but thickly paired with his typical nervous tell. "N-Nothing. Yukiko-senpai, she, she was just messin' around. You saw how she was."

She let go of the rail with one of her hands and turned her upper body to face him. Her eyes bored into his. Generally silence was an effective weapon against Kanji Tatsumi, and she deployed it without hesitation once more against him. For a long moment, she just stared at him, willing him to speak; her gaze alone trying to demand of him to open up; confess; free himself from the shadow of doubt.

 _Anything. Help me understand you. Help me believe in you._

But this time, aside from helplessness in his eyes, he held his counsel.

She turned away again in silence, resting her elbows on the fence.

"Look, Naoto - if y'need help with something - then I can, yeah? Just...not about this."

 _Not about this._ Which this? He knew and she knew. They spoke of the same thing. And yet he would not acknowledge further information on the matter.

She had no choice. She would need to re-check his alibi alongside Amagi and Satonaka. She also would need to surrender her hope that he was an ally. He did not behave like one. At best, he was not opposing her, and that was as good as it got. It was not enough to re-embrace him as an accomplice in her investigation.

As her one last chance to not be alone in her efforts.

"I want to believe you are not-" She started to speak to him, but when she turned to face him, he was already gone.


	10. Chapter 10

_Happy chapter 10 everyone! Thanks for the recent increase in feedback. When I can, I make sure to reply, and if you're just a guest - thanks to you, too! It does help me a lot to gauge where I am headed and how what I write is reaching you guys. And the encouragement does help as well, of course. :)_

 _As always, thanks to zero-damage on reddit for his help! Your changes to the phrasing helped a lot this chapter._

* * *

 **September 12th, 2011 - Afternoon**

Naoto returned to the police station shortly after her encounter with Tatsumi.

A slow, hot irritation had boiled inside of her since she found he had quietly left the hilltop. How far could she trust him? How far could she trust any of the other teens? How far _should_ she trust any of them?

She waited impatiently as her privileges were cross-checked by the Sargent on duty. The prefecture had not pulled her from the investigation yet, so she still was permitted all access she requested for the case. The officers did not have to like it, but they would need to comply.

Keeping a cool, expressionless expression as she walked past officers trying to rile her with snide comments on how 'that kid' was wasting his time and how 'everything's done and dusted', she entered the archives and dug for information on Amagi, Satonaka and Tatsumi. In the case of the latter, she knew what to skip this time around and went for anything that might simply show him as a cross-reference.

She would find everything… something, _anything_ which has ever been recorded about these teens. No matter how big or small, she would find details to the questions on how they could be either implicated on the murders, or they would be freed of her doubts decisively.

Sitting in the quiet archives in the center of the building, Naoto poured over indexes, petty crimes possibly related to the three, gang-references, and previously skilled entries. Her question right now was a simple one. What was hidden in the past lives of Satonaka, Tatsumi and Amagi, that would offer her a new lead?

The answer for that came swiftly. She had to accept that Amagi and Satonaka were irreproachable, and everything on Tatsumi only proved her previous sentiment of the youngster. Her finds were paltry at best. After two hours of work, all she had to show for her research was too insignificant to warrant anything new.

There were no former police records on Satonaka or Amagi. Amagi had a chain of solid alibi from day to day, confirmed by staff and gusts at the inn. Tatsumi had been checked into once more and she found his alibi to be compounded by her own investigations from a few months ago.

She left the station armed with a folder full of effectively inconsequential material. Material which exonerated her last three prime suspects.

On her way from the station, to the bus stop, and all the way riding home, all Naoto could do was frown at the folder in her hands and re-organize her thoughts.

Everything she had tried had looped back into failure. Nothing opened up new clues for her. Nothing seemed to confirm her sane or logical scenarios; nothing seemed to prove any of her honed skills as a detective correct.

A sickening feeling nestled inside of her. A bleakness that whispered: You have reached the absolute of what you could manage to achieve. You. Have. Failed.

* * *

When she walked into her apartment, she kicked the door shut behind her; walked into the living room; dropped her latest set of folders… and let herself down onto her knees slowly.

Naoto's eyes wandered over weeks and months of work all around her. All her drive and effort. And to what end had she worked?

Her case was stuck. She had used up all possible alternatives to solve the murders. She had failed at connecting with the teens, who obviously only toyed with her now. She had failed to get any cooperation from the local police, and even the Yasogami Prefecture seemed to offer less and less assistance. Her insights and her investigative means had been pushed to their limits. What remained now? Where could she turn?

Grampa was in America now. Calling him was out of the question.

Tatsumi was balking her attempts to gain more information.

The rest of the teens had done nothing but mock her.

Dojima had told her weeks ago to stop and abandon the case.

The other officers at the station blocked her at every junction.

What was she missing? What was the last piece of the puzzle she had not yet considered? Or, indeed, did she have to dis-assemble everything and re-build the puzzle fully?

Doubt lodged inside her chest yet again. She felt it like a physical entity; a weight that made it harder to breathe. Her thoughts seemed to be pulled into a spiral, the fear of failure looming, and a momentous disaster of her own making. Was defeat really an inescapable outcome of the Inaba case then?

 _Think, Shirogane!_

Staring at the floor, she pulled the cap off of her head _. Back to basics. Occam's' Razor_. _Remove everything that has so far not lead the case forward. Take that blade and remove the erroneous data you have amassed._

She slowly got to her feet and picked up an empty file box. Time to apply the razor.

The first files added were the ones she had just brought home. Amagi and Satonaka were a dead end.

Anything linking the younger Tatsumi to the murders went into the box. He was solidly ruled out by now.

All information regarding Kubo followed. She had tried to show this and was denied.

Collected thoughts on a hired assassin followed; right after the 'outsider theory'-data. Lack of physical evidence made it obsolete.

All other constructs; theories and hypothesis were added to the box, filling it. So she filled a second. And a third. And a fourth.

As her apartment became more structured again, so did her overall thoughts. She picked up the trash littered about and filled a bag to be disposed of later. She collected her laundry and filled a basket piece by piece.

By the time she had discarded everything she knew to be proven wrong; removed the refuse from her apartment; and started a batch of laundry; she found most of her living room barren again. Gazing at the boxes filled with discarded work, showing wasted hours in her fruitless efforts, she felt her eyes stinging unpleasantly again.

What had she actually accomplished so far? She had helped in securing information at the third murder site. She had assisted in finding Kubo and charging him with murder. She had also, several times, provided facts that showed Kubo was not the killer of the first two victims, though these efforts had been discarded by others.

So what else did she have to show for all her work? Boxes filled with wasted efforts.

She swept her gaze around the room again. One small cluster of folders remained tucked away into a corner nearly behind her couch.

She went into a crouch beside it, resting on her heels. The slim folder was a collection of local rumor and gossip spread by house wives and teenagers. She had written down anything she heard back then, even rumor. Though this bit… she had discarded it after just one review. The mention of the Midnight Channel was prominent on each of the pages and notes assembled in this folder. A rumor she had so far not disproven, but rejected as laughable.

And by not being disproven, the data in this folder did not get cut by the razor…

She picked up the folder hesitantly and flipped through the pages. Notes on mentions of the Midnight Channel. Dates when she had overheard the rumor flare up. One note attached with a paperclip was dated all the way back to the 10th of July. It noted her conversation with the teenagers in front of Marukyu tofu. They got nervous at her mentioning of Morooka not being shown on TV.

She was reminded of her theory that the killer sought out victims by popularity and after broadcasts showing them on TV, possibly to raise the perceived worth of the murders committed.

She balled her right hand into a fist and bit gently onto her index finger, frowning. Slowly, the old hypothesis came back to her. Her interpretation of the facts had led her to believe that the culprit wanted to raise his or her profile by ensuring the murdered victims were well-known.

She got up and started to pace her living room while flipping through her notes.

 _Scenario_ : The murderer, much like Kubo, is driven by the desire to be known and / or popular. As such, they select persons of current local interest. Interest is often sparked through the news and the late-night broadcast "Niteline", according to what she had noted down. After each such surge in apparent importance, rumor and gossip about the person peaked, leading to the culprits' attention being drawn to the victim. This in turn would attract the attention of the killer and bring him to his or her victims. Perhaps they even were a member of the press in some form?

And somehow this brought the teens into the picture, as they, too, had noticed Morooka's lack of an appearance.

Amagi, Satonaka, Hanamura and Narukami all had some connection to the first and second victims. So they could know of the situation. Perhaps someone, maybe Amagi, was not the killer, but perhaps a crown witness, scared to come forward after what happened to Konishi.

She stopped her pacing and placed the open folder onto her table. Still too restless to sit again, she squared herself up, fists pressed to the table top.

So far, that new scenario held up. By that line of reasoning, however, she was missing another vital point. How did Kanji Tatsumi really get entangled with the other four? Back in May, he made allusions to not having friends or at least not considering someone his friend. That had since changed, and dramatically so. He balked at her questioning and her requests for help, telling her today that he could not possibly assist her ' _with this_ '. So how did he get involved?

And how did Kujikawa? As a former idol, she expected her to shy away from casual friendships, especially seeing she expressed a desire to recuperate from personal matters. Or was it that this especially made her seek out companionship? They went to the same school, but senpai and kohai generally did not sync up so effortlessly. What had forged them into a unit?

What had the four second-year students have in common with the first-years?

What was the trigger that would cause these seemingly different teenagers to form any bond, and so quickly?

Naoto turned from the folder of discarded Midnight Channel rumors on the table. She needed to re-trace her steps when investigating the teens.

Flipping through papers in discarded boxes, she pulled up the folders with information in Amagi and Satonaka. She found a report on Amagi having gone missing. Back then already, Adachi hinted that he felt she was involved, but Naoto had dismissed it as a fancy.

Nothing on Satonaka.

She kept digging, pulling up the files on Tatsumi and Kujikawa. There was nothing memorable. She had tried to find out more about the idol, but nothing remarkable passed through her hands at the time.

But then there was the report of Kujikawa disappearing. Her grandmother being unconcerned and even the press did not comment on it. At the time, even Naoto had dismissed it. Apparently it was normal for Kujikawa to just take breaks. Yes, Naoto remembered thinking that the idol must have had access to funds that could allow her to withdraw to a hotel or similar.

She was also reminded of the span of two weeks in which she lost all trace of Tatsumi.

Naoto lifted her head from the box of papers and stared across the room to the map of the murder locations.

Her thought had always been that before the murder was an abduction. A time in which the victims had been missing. She was certain neither Yamano, nor Konishi had been murdered where they had been found.

Had Amagi, Tatsumi and Kujikawa been abducted? And subsequently been recovered?

If they had been… That would mean three things.

First. Morooka not having been on TV and not having reported missing mattered for more than she had previously accounted for and absolutely explained the nervousness of the teens when she questioned them previously.

Further, second, they knew precisely what was going on and yet did not notify authorities. Or even reach out to her, even though she had given them ample opportunity.

And finally, third, Amagi-san had not lied when she talked of entering TVs, helping people escape.

Naoto's mouth slowly dropped open.

The answers had been in front of her. If she still applied the rule of "Among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected"; she was left with the most outrageously impossible of them all.

 _Oh Amagi-san. Had you been candid all along?_ 'We go rescuing people who've been kidnapped by jumping into the TV!'

How could she possibly prove this theory? How could she make any of this actually come to be?

Flipping through the 'Discarded' folder, she found the other hint she had forgotten. Niteline.

Naoto grabbed a note pad and began scribbling furiously, before dashing back outside. She needed to check if any of the teens had been shown on that show.

* * *

 **September 12th, 2011, Late Evening**

"Please, try not to frown like that, Shirogane-san. I just need to apply this lip gloss…"

"I do not believe that I truly need any make-up." Naoto grumbled. She felt naked without her cap, but even though it was right in front of her, it seemed miles out of reach.

"It's the lights, Nao… _sorry_ , sorry, _Shirogane_ -san. They strip away even your naturally handsome features. I just need a few small additions to ensure the camera can pass your good looks on to our viewers. Please?"

The detective glared at the make-up artist behind her in the mirror for a moment… and relented. "Very well. This is your chosen vocation, after all. You'd know best. But, please, do keep it to the minimum we truly need. I'd rather be noticed for what I have to say, not for what I appear to look like."

"No need to worry, Shirogane-san, no need to worry at all. The Detective Prince will simply appear to be that sliver more handsome, nothing more. I have been doing this for years, and you can never tell that anything was done at all when I am done. After all, if you consider…"

Naoto tuned her out, settled back into the chair and closed her eyes, feeling brushes and pencils mover over her face.

The decision had come this morning. She called up the production staff at Niteline and offered up to appear on the show to give an intimate insight into the investigations of the murder cases.

If everything she had put together so far was correct, she would lure the kidnapper-slash-murderer towards her. Knowing what to expect, she could easily guard herself against the kidnapping and escape without too much effort.

The editorial staff had been delighted, an interview was agreed upon – even though they insisted on a segment called "The Detective Prince's True Identity". She had reluctantly agreed upon it. Give and take, she told herself. She could challenge the kidnapper with what she had to say, she did owe the editors some small compensation for helping her.

She surfaced from her thoughts to hear "…and you should have seen what I did when we had the regional Prefect of Economic Affairs on the show. Hiding his blemishes while still accentuating his features. But working on you is such a pleasure, you hardly need any help at all, why, your skin is…"

Drivel. She returned to her own thoughts.

Tonight would quite possibly burn her remaining bridges with the police. Not that this mattered much. Adachi and Dojima had been shunning her. The other officers at the police station seemed to hardly desire her involvement.

She placed all her chips on this one gamble. All she could hope for now was to cause enough local anxiety which would make her the proverbial talk of the town by tomorrow.

"Shirogane-san? Please, it won't take long, I just need you to stand up so I can give your uniform a quick brush down."

"Yes, certainly."

Naoto hopped from the chair and stretched her arms out sideways, feeling the lint brush go back and forth over her jacket.

 _Ready. Set. Action, Shirogane._

* * *

Naoto had studied her posture for a while before she walked onto the stage, shook the moderator's hand and sat down to his right. She casually placed her right arm in front of her, leaning forward slightly. Her left hand closed lightly around her right and she turned her upper body slightly towards the man on her left. She could easily talk to him or the camera this way.

The NiteLine jingle started up, the director's assistant gave them a countdown – and then the red light on the camera switched on. _On air._

The announcer flashed a brilliant smile into the camera straight in front of him. "Good evening, and welcome to Niteline's special Nitewatch Report! A suspect in the murders in Inaba was safely arrested recently. But what few people know is that the mastermind who brought him to justice was a detective – who is attending our local Yasogami High School. Tonight's report will focus on this Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane, whose handsome looks are sweeping the nation. Thanks for being on the show."

The presenter turned and flashed the young detective a brilliant - and utterly fake - smile.

"No, no" she replied in a low, warm voice, "the pleasure is all mine." Leaning on her arm, she replied his smile with a warm one of her own. _Make sure people watch. Play to the crowd that is out there._

"First, congratulations to you and the police for your recent arrest of the culprit." Naoto gave her interview partner a slow nod. "It was well-known that there were a lot of mysteries surrounding this case, and you did a great job clearing them up."

"I would love to fully accept your praise. However, I'd hesitate to say that the matter is "cleared up," as such. It's true that our suspect was behind Mr. Morooka's unfortunate death." She turned her head slightly, glancing at the camera for a moment. "But when I cast my eye over the case as a whole, I detect a few things that seem out of place." Her eyes wandered back to the show's host.

 _Yes, that wasn't in your script, was it?_

Interviewer suddenly fumbled with his script. "Oh. Ah - l-like what?"

Naoto kept her voice smooth and steady, the practiced low register combined with the spark of amusement in her eye making her the picture-perfect image of the Detective Prince they had wanted for the show. "Unfortunately, I cannot divulge details at this time. But this matter claimed the lives of three people, hence I believe that even the smallest inconsistency must be examined."

The man seemed to have found the notes he was looking for. "I...I see. I have to say, this is a surprise in light of the police's official statement. It –ah. It was announced that the young man caught confessed fully-"

Naoto nodded and smoothly spoke over the man. "Yes, but a confession does not signify they actually committed these atrocities. I am of the opinion that the young man may have actually indeed only taken one life – and claimed the others for reasons of megalomania."

The interviewer became even more flustered, stammering something about the police's official statement then flipped quickly through his papers once more. Beside the camera, the production assistance moved his hand in a 'Move on!'-motion. "N-Now for our next segment, 'The Detective Prince's True Identity', where Naoto-kun tells us a little bit about himself."

Naoto narrowed her eyes a moment, before switching her practiced smile back on.

It seemed the host noticed it and stammered "Ah. A-Amazingly, the Detective Prince has solved a whopping twenty-four cases. Sixteen of them were conducted alone, without the involvement of his famous grandfather. _Shirogane-san,_ is living up to such an illustrious name a challenge?"

She shook her head. "I simply do my best. Many people adopt the careers of their families. In fact, only recently one of my peers told me he found my dedication to my heritage admirable."

"But to investigate a series of murders so young... it must be traumatic for a child, correct?"

Naoto stiffened and stat up straight, her relaxed manner vanishing. _Here, too?_

"Not at all. The situation in Inaba is far from the first such case I have handled. The focus in an investigation is not the injured or deceased party. It is finding the one responsible."

"What about your many admirers?" The interviewer was smirking now, one elbow leaning on the desk. "It's said you're a popular figure at your high school. Do you have anyone special in mind?"

Her face finally went utterly blank. What an altogether senseless diversion. "The question is irrelevant. My work takes precedence."

"But surely even you must feel pleased that not only your brains let people notice you. You are a handsome young man; I am sure many feel jealous of the attention you gain!"

She shook her head, sitting back in her chair. "It is as I said. My work defines me. Social interactions, as pleasurable as they may seem to be for most of my peers, are simply distractions from the goals I must achieve. Allowing myself to squander precious time with distractions of that nature would be irrational and unreasonable."

She forced her smile back in place. Keeping it interesting. Keep people watching. Make them talk.

"But I cannot argue a certain welcoming charm with the inhabitants of Inaba. It is a very appealing town."


	11. Chapter 11 - Communications 1

_*smiles*_

 _Thanks, as always to Zero-Damage on Reddit._

 _Special thanks to Ikasury for the nudge to bring another unique element into Distance Theory._

* * *

Receipt Date: Mon, 13th Sept 2011 11:49:40

Delivered-To: ShiroganeYF

Subject: Re: Inaba

From: Shriogane, Naoto shiroganenaoy

To: Shirogane, Y.F. shiroganeyf

* * *

Grampa,

I am sorry I have not been writing a lot. I am starting to wonder if joining the structured public education system was a mistake. I know we both talked about this, and I know it was my own idea. I also fully realize you supported me in this step and I will perform as expected. I cannot seem to connect to my peers. And the attention _do_ I receive is uncomfortable and unwanted. Countless female students leave notes in my shoe locker each day. I am considering the purchase and installation of a lock at this point.

The case is proceeding, albeit not as I would wish it to.

The police have reached a level of uncooperativeness that is unacceptable. I am considering reaching out to the Yasogami prefecture to see if I can be working through another department or office. I understand that you counseled against this step in the past, but the case is taking a bad turn.

It seems the local legal body is pushing for Kubo to be tried, not only for the murder of Morooka, but also Yamano and Konishi. I have attempted to present my facts to them; I have written down lists and provided proof to back up my facts. They dismissed it all. I am no longer certain the sanity of these people is factual.

To make matters worse, I tried once more to reach out to my source, Kanji Tatsumi, whom I mentioned before. He seems stuck between offering assistance and being unhelpful. Every time I try to motivate him to cooperate with me, he seems to simply balk my progress. It is so frustrating, Grampa. I had thought back in May I could use him to further my cause, yet it seems I did not read him correctly.

I am working on a new theory, but it is not yet solid enough for me to share it with you. Suffice to say, the new angle I am checking is a bit fantastic and I fully expect having to alter the premise before I will be successful. As it stands, I seem to have tried everything else, and I cannot advance in what I am trying to achieve.

Further, I apologize to you.

I realize that my handling of this case is shining a poor light on not only me, but on you as well. As your protégée, I should have managed to present a solution to the problem months ago. You surely would have solved the case already.

I can only assure you that I am taking the case seriously and am working on it as my new school schedule allows.

Also: I may be offline for a few days. I will reply as soon as I am able to.

I love you.

We will speak soon.


	12. Chapter 12

_Good morning, everyone! This lovely Sunday brings you chapter 12, and with it a lot of cross-over with Shortest Distance. Right now simply isn't the time to add more of my own stuff, especially because we get to have one of the first longer chats with these two. Feel free to head over to zero-damage's pages and cross-read. :)_

 _Thanks to all reviews, you keep me motivated nicely._

 _Special thanks to zero-damage on reddit for proofing my scribbles._

 _Extra thanks to Ikasury for PM shenanigans and Piña Coladas._

* * *

 **September 13th, 2011**

How soon would the provoked reaction ensue, she wondered. Would it, even? So far she had not arrived at a conclusive point in her theory which would allow her to predict the next few days.

Naoto decided to be prepared either way and provide copious amounts of opportunity for the kidnapper/murderer to strike. Facilitating them needed to be balanced with protecting herself, of course, without being too inapproachable. Further, she needed to direct the flow of rumor. Showing herself in public today would solidify her work from last night.

After getting up, she spent some time depositing her gathered files into the living room closet; heaping it in, if she was being honest with herself. Subsequently, she had showered, dressed and headed to the flood plains early. She knew the path the teens would take and was certain that they would have met to share their observations of last night's interview. Hopefully they would, and in doing so, assist in spreading the hearsay about the _Detective Prince_.

She leaned against a tree, giving anyone passing flat, calculating stares. She would not invite any sort of palaver with anyone except the ones she needed to speak to this morning. Accentuating her image as the mysterious young detective could start after that was done with.

When not putting up her defenses, she allowed herself to ponder last night's interview. She heard her name whispered whenever someone walked by, be them a student or house wives up early for morning errands. In that regard it would seem her gamble had started paying off. Those who had watched would mention it to those who did not and showing herself in public helped prompt people so they would continue spreading the word.

Still, she felt some anxiousness. She urgently had to ensure that the 'investigation team' knew of her measures. If she was correct in her assumptions so far, implausible and fantastic as they appeared to her, then this group of teens would be the ones who would react to her disappearance.

If she was feeling truthful, she might very well place her life into the hands of these teens. Although they were her peers, there was no doubt that they could not match her skill in both policing and deduction. It was also unlikely that they would even be needed, as she was fairly certain she was capable of extracting herself from a kidnapping situation on her own. And if not, this group of students would need to be her limited backup. She had to meet them this morning to solidify her chances of success. They had managed so far, and without clues, so her giving things a nudge should make it a bit easier for them to comprehend.

Also, she could not risk their interference fully. If she was too generous with the details of her plan, they could very well decide to foolishly play hero and impede into her abduction. An interference she had to avoid at all cost, if she wanted to gather a validation of her hypothesis and use herself as demonstration of the perpetrators method. She needed proof, irrefutable and solid, to ensure that the police would re-work the Kubo case.

Looking towards town, she saw her assumption confirmed. The teens walked up towards the school, a gaggle of chatter carrying the words 'Niteline' and 'Detective Prince' towards her. Good, that would hasten matters.

As they drew closer, she could hear Satonaka-san say "Yea! It was weird! He _so_ doesn't strike me as the kinda guy who'd go on a TV show..."

A fitting entry point into the conversation. "Agreed. I, too, would have preferred not to do it." Pushing herself away from the tree, she stepped on the patch and approached them. She stopped several steps in front of them. Not exactly blocking their path, but making sure they would not just be able to walk past her. "Good morning. I have been waiting for you all. There's something I needed to discuss with you regarding the case."

The detective gazed over the group. Her plan's backup, even if they may not be so voluntarily. Present were only the four second-years and Kujikawa. She felt an irrational moment of disappointment that Tatsumi was not with them. He was ponderous and awkward, and yet, he was the one person she had interacted with on a cordial basis the most. His presence would have been a familiar amenity during this confrontation. _Well. Nothing for it now._ They will certainly inform him of what is about to transpire this morning.

As so often the case, it was Hanamura who spoke up first. "Discuss? Dude, we'll be late for class if we talk too long…" He trailed off and looked her over, puzzled. "Hey, where's your uniform?"

Naoto was pleased he noted her lack of school uniform, a vital hint for them, but spoke over his question. "Could you please indulge my current theory on the matter?"

"That again? Well..." Hanamura exchanged a look with Narukami before turning back to her. "What is it...?"

The detective turned her back on them, then took a slow breath before replying. She needed to think carefully. Leave the right clues, avoid them interfering too soon and still stress that she knew what this was about. She tucked down her cap, placed a hand on her hip and stared at a crack in the pavement for a moment before she spoke.

"First, as regards commonalities between the victims, all of them were kidnapped before they were murdered. The victims were all locals who had been the focus of recent media attention, becoming suddenly well-known...That is the most likely scenario. I don't believe there's anything intrinsically unique about the victims themselves..." She glanced over her shoulder. "Haven't you all come to the same conclusion?"

After a moment of quiet, it was Narukami who spoke up. "Yeah, we did."

Naoto nodded and looked away from them again. "Then, allow me to state my point. Will you admit that a number of you fit these identical circumstances? There was a long interval between the second and third deaths in this case. But after I applied the aforementioned criteria, I discovered several similar disappearances had taken place. Yukiko Amagi. Kanji Tatsumi. Rise Kujikawa. All of you disappeared shortly after being shown on TV. Either you escaped death somehow, or you faked your own disappearances in order to divert attention from yourselves. Since some of you had ties to the victims, there came a point where I suspected one of you must be the culprit."

There was a shocked silence. Had they really not come to that conclusion themselves? Did they not see how suspicious they have acted and what the logical conclusion of that would be?

"You thought one of us was the killer!? You _can't_ be serious!" Satonaka sounded furious.

Naoto shook her head slowly. "You misunderstand, Satonaka-san. This was a prior theory, since discarded. Putting together everything I've learned until this moment, I believe exactly the opposite. You aren't the culprits." She hesitated a moment, sorting her thoughts to make sure she picked the right turn of phrase to convince them and to recruit their assistance. "You may, in fact, be the only ones with the means to pursue the true perpetrator. If seen as a joining of forces between the rescued, everything falls into place."

She halted for a moment, the hand on her hip toying with her gun's cord for a moment. Running her previous words through her head, she checked it for what she had revealed so far. It came down to her explaining what they had been doing, and that she knew. This indubitably would convince them that trying to hide from her, or indeed mock her, was no longer the correct course of action. They needed a new approach in their interactions with her. And Naoto could offer them one.

It was time to share something she knew which they did not for certain. "Of course, this is all speculation. There is in fact a flaw in the theory. It doesn't account for the third incident. Mr. Morooka's murder, which we previously spoke of. He has never been broadcast on television, and neither did he ever disappear."

Someone behind her shifted, took a few steps, but then halted - or was stopped. She continued. "We must also consider the condition of his corpse. The first two victims are still listed with an unknown cause of death...But Mr. Morooka died of an easily identifiable blunt force trauma to the occipital cranium. The police have not satisfactorily resolved this discrepancy, yet they are desperate to close the case."

Much of what she had just revealed would be badly misplaced if she was wrong and they were indeed involved in the killings… but if they were not, she needed to make sure they could discriminate the facts as much as she did herself.

And now that they knew, she needed to ensure they also knew what to expect next. "Further action will be necessary to obtain some sort of decisive evidence." _Yes, that should suffice as a clue_. She moved the hand from her hip and patted her pocket a moment, feeling the concealed pen knife. She would be ready and prepared. She just needed to make sure they were, too.

It sounded like Satonaka-san's anger had disappeared. She sounded confused and slightly anxious when she spoke up next. "Further action...? What do you mean?"

Naoto turned to face them. Slowly looking in each of their eyes, she hoped they understood the urgency of the situation. Her case depended on them, but saying so could make them take matters too far into their own hands. She needed to remain in control and she would need a certain head start to do so. By her current estimations, they would have found her to be missing in a day or two, by which time the perpetrator certainly will have taken action. She would then, in turn, be in an adequate position to free herself, escape and possibly count on the assistance of these teens, should she actually find herself unable to do so on her own.

For a brief moment the thought that she might be found as the next victim tried to surface, but she stamped down on that particular thought. Hard.

"Well, whatever the outcome...the evidence should come to light. You said something interesting to me not long ago."

She smiled briefly, tapped the brim of her cap at them and headed back towards town.

Hanamura turned as she walked by and called out to her. "Hey, where are you going? You'll miss class if you-"

She stopped and softly replied. "This is not a game for me, either." In simple games, one does not gamble ones' life.

The last she heard as she departed was Amagi's very quiet "Naoto-kun…".

* * *

She spent the rest of the day being exceedingly visible and as prominent as she could manage.

A slow stroll through Junes rewarded her with excited whispers about "that interview last night" or "so young and already so many solved cases". Generally she detested people speaking about her, but right now she needed to cause as much incitement as she possibly could.

She visited every store in the shopping district, too, making sure to be noticed and commented about. She answered a few short questions by curious passersby. She ate lunch outside of Souzai Daigaku, making sure she sat outside and well visible. The weather played along nicely, the late summer sun was warm and if she had not been carefully keeping her surroundings in mind, she would have been able to fully enjoy the day.

As it was, with all her preparation in place, she still wondered if the abductor would strike at any moment or if they first formulated a plan.

She spend her evening on the hill, not to jovially watch the sunset, but to memorize the topography of the area. If she were to be taken to somewhere in Inaba, she was certain she could find her way around promptly, but she wanted to be sure that she could do the same in case she was taken somewhere near the city as well.

She even walked up to the station, but remembering the broadcast, changed her mind. She should at least wait a few days before she would reach with both hands into that specific wasps' nest.

By the time she left, the sun had long set and she was wandering back home by a route using many detours. She wanted to be ready. She needed to be. This was her highest gamble yet and without utter focus and concentration, she might well end in a serious predicament.

And so, as Naoto found herself slowly promenading southbound through the late-night shopping district, she heard a call from behind… and, unanticipatedly, above. She turned, not seeing anyone behind her. Peering past the glare of the street lamps, she tipped back her head to look up.

"Yo, Naoto! Wait!"

She quickly realized that she was beside Tatsumi Textiles. Her muscle memory had turned her down this street to take her to the bus stop, but she had not anticipated being noticed. This was absolutely not what she needed right now. A distraction.

As much as she would have wished to see Tatsumi this morning, she needed to avoid his interference now. He had shown a protective streak towards those he considered friends in the past, and his recent behavior since Port Island would indicate that he considered Naoto Shirogane as someone that fell in that group.

She whirled back and started to quick-march herself down the street, headed towards the bus stop. There was no time to waste with repartee and his very own brand of witticism.

There was, however, a problem when trying to put any amount of distance between oneself and Tatsumi. His gait had considerable reach and she found herself swiftly outpaced when he decided to dash after her. She had barely managed to get past the shrine's ground, when his steps thundered to a slower pace beside her.

"Dammit, I was calling you!" Tatsumi snapped, slowing from his jog. _Not even out of breath_.

She didn't respond. There was no need for it, this was not the time for it, and if he just-

She was grabbed. Her immediate reflexes, honed by some rather rigorous martial arts training when younger, kicked in at once. She ducked out of the grasp, dancing back and sideways. She felt the hand – Tatsumi's – slide off her shoulder, tugging at her shirt for a moment and she ended her motion by slapping his wrist away from her. She stood, right leg forward, left back, both slightly bent, the balls of her feet balancing her. Her hands were open, but on the height of her hips, ready to reach or redirect as needed.

Her head snapped up and she stared at him. "Do _not_ do that again" she muttered. The tall young man had taken a step back as well, seemingly startled. She relaxed a little, her heels gently touching the ground, and adjusted her collar with both hands. Her glare remained fixed on him. Personal boundaries! Did such things not matter to others?

"You wouldn't stop!"

 _As if that- How does that-_ "You - I seem to encounter you every time I-" Naoto folded her arms tightly across her chest. Her mind and tongue battled for their say; outrage and confusion vying for attention first. She turned her head and gazed to the ground. Another diversion. One she could simply not afford to have right now. "I am positive there are other activities you could be pursuing, Tatsumi-san."

"Kanji. You called me that before, back on the trip." He sounded as if trying to reason with her.

" _Tatsumi-san_." She barely even knew him! "Why are you following me?"

"You were walkin' past my house!" He gestured with his open right hand up the street, as if that were any kind of an explanation.

"And you ran downstairs to meet me." She squared up _. He is just_ way _too tall_. Her chin tilted up, her stare hardened, her hand settled on her hip. "I am simply returning from the police station. This is the most direct route to the bus stop."

"Thought the cops didn't want you 'round no more," Kanji mumbled, rolling his shoulders as if getting ready to tackle her again.

Naoto bristled, but her voice dropped to a near-freezing point. "My professional affairs are none of your concern."

"But you didn't come to school." He looked confused at that, possibly even worried. Her assessment that he considered her someone to look after seemed on point. Further: _Really_ not something she'd need right this moment. His eyes tried to peer at her in the poor lighting between street lamps. "You sick or something?"

"No," she said flatly, coldly. "I simply wanted to check on a few things. Ensure matters are settled." She had ended up not yet daring to enter the building, but he did not need to know that. The officers would not care much either way right now, and she had a feeling even if she would be taken, no one there would understand the urgency of the matter.

Tatsumi let out a grunt and ran a hand through his hair. "The case is over, Naoto, Kubo's in jail. You got to be on television and be the big man, and you-"

This was too much. _Be the big man?_ He is naïve, but did he truthfully not understand what the goal of that appearance was? Naoto rounded on him, eyes blazing, fists clenched. Her voice vibrated in her throat as she practically growled at him. "Do you really think that is why I'm still in Inaba?" She kept advancing, glowering, her chin pushed forward. Even looking up at him, she felt him take hesitant steps backwards. "That I- I went on that ridiculous show to-"

Had she come across as gloating? As taking credit? She had said in the interview, that this was not yet the time for any congratulations.

She stopped short, jolted back, her breath caught painfully in her throat. Tugging angrily at her cap she twisted half away from the young man. "You must think I am-"

"That ain't it, I just..." His voice trailed off.

Naoto turned and glared up at him. "Just what?"

His voice was much quieter now. "You - you're gonna come back to school tomorrow, right?" He looked down, brow furrowed. Something seemed off in his voice. The pitch was wrong. His stance was wrong. He was not challenging her any longer. He just seemed confused and possibly... worried? "You can't keep missing it. S'posed to be the smart guy."

This gave her pause. It was one thing to try and keep him _somewhat_ at bay while she needed to ensure the trap would work. It was another entirely to possibly burn yet another bridge. She had already damaged her relationship with the local law enforcement. Being willfully disruptive with the young man felt unwise. He was still Kanji Tatsumi. Ponderous, quicksilver-mooded, confusing. But each interaction with him had been cordial and indeed to her advantage so far. And when considered further; disgruntling him could mean she could lose a possible ally in a situation she could not yet fully penetrate or plan ahead for.

She relented. Her glare melted into a gaze and she took a step back.

"I have no other option," Naoto muttered. But she needed him to know that right now, she was still in control. She felt her shoulders tensing and the muscles in her jaw tightening. "I..." _How to finish this?_ "I trust I will see you again soon. Kanji-san."

It was an olive branch, if a small one. He seemed startled, but pleased at hearing her use his given name.

She nodded at him, turned, and walked quickly to the bus stop, fighting Kanji Tatsumi out of her mind.


	13. Chapter 13

_Hello folks, sorry to keep you waiting. I was out for work and was unable to update, even though zero-damage on reddit was being awesome and did his bit days ago._

 _But, we're back on track and I am actually ahead of publishing schedule. Currently, chapter 16 is being worked on. :)_

 _If you're cross-reading with 'The Shortest Distance from A to B ' (and if you're not, why on earth not?!), Distance Formula, Chapter 13 takes part right after Chapter 7, Interlude 1. Go ahead and read there, then continue here._

 _Thanks again for your feedback, I love seeing how you feel about the stuff I scribble. This one made rZD 'creeped out', so I'd be happy to see what you guys think. Alright, let's do this!_

* * *

 **... September? ... 2011?**

Slowly her senses started to report back her current situation.

She was on a hard, cold, smooth surface. Perhaps a concrete or metal floor.

The air felt both cool and clammy. Possibly a basement.

The illumination was dimmed, but it was not fully dark through her closed eyelids.

She heard beeps, clicks and humming in the background. Possibly the air conditioning unit of a larger building.

Her tongue seemed to have a metallic taste to it. Almost like earth ... or blood.

She felt no restrains, not on her hands, not on her feet.

The area around her mouth and nose felt unpleasant. Possibly a mild reaction to chloroform.

Naoto Shirogane, the detective prince, slowly assembled all of these facts into a greater image. The abduction had succeeded. She was no longer in her apartment, nor anywhere she was familiar with.

Without moving or opening her eyes, she stayed where she was; how she was. She was curled up on one side. She noticed a small pang of pain if she breathed too deeply. The faint memory of hitting the ground hard after she was taken surfaced, but vanished again immediately.

Chloroform. She remembered the sickeningly sweet smell of the substance as a cloth was pressed to her face. _If I had not been so irrational and had not taken that first deep breath when I gasped, it would have taken much longer to take effect._ But she should have woken up in moments, minutes at the worst, after passing out from it. It did not, as shown in soap-operas, make you unconscious within moments and for a longer period of time.

She gingerly tried to give each limb a gentle move. No, no restraints. Whoever had taken her must have felt she was not a great a threat to them. Yes, someone had caught and carried her, quite likely much larger than herself. …not like that was too difficult. But if they had been the same person who took Tatsumi…

Naoto opened her eyes, just slightly, and peered forward.

The darkness before her moved. "Oh good! Good! You're awake! Oh, I am so happy, I was starting to worry. To feel alone!"

Going limp again on impulse, she analyzed the voice. It sounded... off. Too young, for starters. And female. Like a little girl. And...

"Oh, are we playing? You keep closing your eyes. Do you want me to go hide first, so you can seek me? That sounds like so much fun!"

Perhaps whomever had taken her, had abducted another, too? Was she too late then? Had the murderer stepped up his pacing?

A hand grabbed her shoulder and shook. Naoto could not help but flinch and suck in air through her teeth. It hurt. She must have hit her entire side hard on the impact she remembered.

The hand jerked back. "Oh no! Are- D-did that hurt? I didn't mean to hurt you! Please, I'm sorry!" The voice sounded ready to break any moment.

Playing possum was no longer an option. Naoto opened her eyes and ... looked into the anxious face of Naoto Shirogane. The one in front of her bit a quivering lip; her eyes glistened and... She wore an oversized lab coat. When at first she had assumed she saw a mirror, she realized she did not. Especially now, that she realized the eyes had an eerie, golden glow.

"Yay, you seem better!" The tears that had been brimming its eyes vanished at once. The creature before her clapped her hands joyfully, causing the overly long sleeves of the coat to slip over her hands fully and muffling the sound. "Oh, I have been waiting so very long for you, Naoto! We will have such a good time!"

The detective slowly eased herself up into a seated position, the clone happily babbling away.

Now that she could look around better, she found the room to be even stranger. Bright, directed lights illuminated consoles and machinery, but for the bright halogen lamps apparently used, the illumination seemed too low. Long rows of green neon lights lit the area under numerous consoles. The only real brightness was clustered around what looked like a large metal table. And still, she could barely see from where she sat to the other side of the room. Based on acoustics alone, it was not that large. She should have easily seen the other side.

Along the walls she noticed huge banners, showing some kind of sigil or logo. It looked similar to a stylized like a Phoenix or a Fenghuang. She could not think of any place or organization that used this logo and nothing in Inaba came close to this.

"Naoto. You are not paying any attention to what I have to tell you."

Her head snapped back to the other person. Their demeanor had fully changed. The submissive, child-like motions were replaced with aggressive, dominate posturing. The voice sounded different to. Masculine. Raw. Commanding.

"While you were being your useless self and slept, I attained the clearances to fortify the security of this locale. What you provided was a good first draft, I'll admit, but if we are to fulfill your dire need for change, we must not be disturbed. I'll let them watch, but I will not allow any interferences. I will _not_ allow it. I won't!" The voice suddenly slipped back into the high, childish pitch and the creature stamped a foot, flinging its arms. "You came to me for help! I'll make you happy!"

Naoto pinched her eyes shut for a moment. This place seemed bizarre. Any shadow cast appeared to be a mix of red and black lines, slowly scrolling forward. Here and there the surroundings flickered, as if seen through the bad reception of a television set. In some areas the floor was just laid with thick metal grates; the actual floor going down a story or more.

She needed to add further facts to assemble the picture of this situation. "Who and what are you. Where is this place?"

The creature giggled joyfully, like a child presented with sweets, but the voice that replied was the cool commanding one. "You should recognize me. And you should know this place. But I did make some small changes. Come, let me enlighten you." The being hopped to its feet and held both hands out. "I hope you'll like it", the childish voice squeaked, "I wanted to make sure it's all nice and pretty for you!"

Keeping her eyes on the being, Naoto ignored the offered hand and slowly pushed herself up.

She was in what seemed to be a foggy command center. Air vents high in the walls spilled forth thick white clouds, cascading down to the floor. Dry ice? Using it as a coolant seemed extravagant. The room was filled floor to ceiling with monitoring equipment of some sort or another. Closed-circuit TVs showing hallways of similar style to this room; old and outdated ticker-tape machines and endless-paper printers; armatures with blinking lights, levers and pullies.

The dominating voice spoke up again. "Your groundwork was here when you invited me in, of course, but I made sure we would be safe and alone. I have made some additions to the security. I further added some changes to the layout. And of course, I had to prepare for the changes you need to undergo."

Naoto chose to ignore the clone. It was senseless babble right now and she still needed to know where she was. She pinched her eyes shut again. She kept feeling waves of dizziness cascade onto her. The chloroform should have long since worn off, especially if she had slept or been unconscious for a while.

Her hand was grabbed roughly. "You should not ignore me. I do not like being ignored." The harsh voice clashed with the tear-filled yellow eyes of the clone. The voice shattered into that of a little scared girl. "I hate being left alone. Won't you play with me? Just for a while?"

Considering her options, Naoto concluded this might get her access to an escape route. "Yes, why not."

A huge sleeve slapped her clone in the face as it lifted its hand to wipe quickly at its eyes. "Oh, yay, what do you wanna play?"

"Play. Certainly... How about you show me what we can see on these TVs?"

Skipping to a console, trying to pull Naoto along, the clone happily started to talk about the technical specifications of the closed-circuit system; how every corridor was linked and send its data to this very room; it also pointed out how they could zoom in and out of things and how it had built all of this on its own.

"How big is this complex?"

"On the surface," the smooth, dominating voice replied, "it is only a few square meters. Think of this as your ultimate defense for the ultimate changes in your life, Naoto." When the creature (or maybe automaton?) turned, there was a gleeful smile on its face. "It's the best place to hide! No one will find us here!" It turned back to some ticker tape and happily scooped up a small pile of paper band.

 _No one will find me? So then it is up to me, as I suspected._ "Impressive. Can I see what that looks like? How about a camera showing the outside?"

The clone stopped and when it turned around, the childish mannerisms were gone again. "Do you take me for a fool? I know what you are thinking. You will not escape. You cannot escape, not me, as I am linked to you." It smiles and whispered. "Forever." It stepped closer to her, their eyes locked. "You will grow to thank me for all I am doing for you." An almost tender hand tried to caress her cheek, but Naoto jerked back furiously. The clone smiled sweetly. "You will love me for it."

Naoto suddenly felt dizzy and the mild pressure she had sensed on her temples felt like an ice pick pushed into her head from both sides. She squeezed her eyes shut, only to hear "What is wrong, Naoto Shirogane? Can you not handle this world? Your world?"

When her legs gave way, she felt arms catching her, sinking with her to the ground. "It's okay... shhh. You just need to rest a little." The voice smoothly changed. "You must be so tired." The childish voice had returned, but even though she wanted to pull away, she could not even open her eyes. Nor could she react verbally when she felt warm lips on her forehead and the arms that had caught her cuddling her closer. "We will never be alone again. You and I have each other now.".

* * *

Naoto woke up lying on the metal operating table. She sat up swiftly, felt nausea seize her and dropped back onto her elbows.

"Ah. The detective prince graces us yet again." The voice sounded like it was on the other side of the room, and when Naoto finally managed to sit up, she saw the clone work on some machinery using futuristic-looking tools. Or as futuristic as a children's morning show would make a five-year-old believe. "Are you able to continue the tour then, or do you wish to waste more time sleeping?"

Naoto slowly swung her legs off the table and slid off it. Holding on with one hand still, she looked towards the controls the clone was working on, noticing how a small lever she pulled seemed to connect to a large robotic arm over the table. "I am quite well. You need not concern yourself with me."

"Oh, wish that I could, but I know why you are here. I understand what _your_ concern is, so it also is _mine_. And I also know why I am here. You need me to help you." The clone turned and a much smaller voice continued. "And I need you to not leave me alone anymore. This will fix us both."

The changes pointed to a schizophrenic complication with the clone. How someone could have cloned her so perfectly, but gotten the demeanor so wrong... It was less likely to be a biological clone and more likely to be some kind of construct. "Tell me who made you."

"Made me? You big silly! Mom and dad and grandpa made me. And you made me most of all!"

"That does not answer my question. Who created you?"

A slick smile replaced the child-like wonder on the clones' face. "Why, Shirogane, you did. Just as you created this-" arms were flung wide, sleeved flapping, "and much like you created THAT." A flapping sleeve pointed at the detective.

"You are not making any sense." Her headache was getting worse again. Naoto rubbed her temples again and suppressed a groan. The air. There must be something in the vapors running into the room. Or rising up through the grates below them.

The clone shifted again. Excitedly it ran up to her, trying to grab her by the arm, which Naoto dodged. "Come, come! I am almost ready with the preparations. I made it so I can simply use the console to make the needed changes. Wanna see the laser-scalpel? It's so awesome!"

"I would really rather see the cameras showing the outside of the compound..."

The voice shifted oddly, as if the excitement of the creature made it jump between its two phases rapidly. "There are no cameras out there. No one can get close, however, because this is a secret location. No one knows about it! We're all by ourselves here. No one to tell us what to do or who to be. We can do anything; _be_ anything we want!"

"You said _we_ can. May _I_ leave then, if I want to?" She squeezed her eyes shut again. The way the strange shadows all around moved made her dizzy and-

She heard a furious outcry. Her eyes flew open. Even before she could get into any kind of defensive stance, the clone spun around and slapped the detective straight across the face. "How dare you? How _dare_ you? I am doing this for you, for us! I will make sure no one will ever again dismiss you and you will never again need to hide. And you thank me thus? Leave? No, you will not _leave_!"

With a shaking hand, Naoto reached up to her cheek, her eyes wide. The slap had been hard and unexpected. She tasted a hint of blood, likely she had bit her cheek or tongue. The clone spun around and hit a few buttons on a console near the metal table. Before she knew what was happening, Naoto felt being grabbed roughly by an unseen force and flung onto the operating table once more. Manacles snapped shut around her wrists and ankles before she could gather her senses.

"Wh-What? NO! Let me go!" She tried to lean up against the restraints, but stopped when her position on her back made the room swerve and she felt illness grab her by the throat.

The clone stepped beside the table and looked sadly into her eyes, a sleeve-covered hand brushing her hair back. "I know you are scared." The voice shifted into coldness, but the demeanor did not, still tenderly petting her hair while harshly continuing. "You are _always_ scared. 'What if someone finds me out?' 'I am a fraud' 'I will never be able to lead a successful working career in that male-dominated world.' I know all your fears, Naoto- _kun_. And I will address each one of them, you will see."

The nausea was becoming consuming. But she felt like even if she needed to, she would not be able to produce anything worth expelling from her pained stomach. She must have shown her discomfort, as the cold voice continued. "Well, you are incapacitated. I suppose this will not be too much a risk..."

The creature vanished and short moments later, the table slowly tilted, presenting her upright. A shy, sad-looking clone returned and a child-like voice whispered to her. "It is all very difficult. But you have me, Naoto. We have each other." The clone leaned forward and very lightly kissed her lips. When it whispered, its warm breath caressing her mouth and chin, its voice was cold and critical again. "I will fix you. And you will be better than you have ever found yourself."

Darkness crept up and claimed Naoto.

* * *

Naoto woke up groggily, curled up on her side. There was someone close by her. An arm was slung around her midsection; she felt warm, steady breathing against her neck.

She felt tired and weak. A dull pain seemed to permeate throughout her body, as if she had been exercising vigorously for days. Breathing hurt, as if the air was impure somehow. And she felt that slow-throbbing headache that just would not budge.

She must have signaled being conscious somehow, as she felt the arm around her pulling her closer. She felt warm lips against her neck, placing a number of small kisses. Naoto shivered. And then she heard that cool, commanding voice. "You know, you could have this whenever you wish, Naoto. You would not even need to change too much about yourself."

The detective struggled weakly to escape, but the arm around her was like a steel cord.

"All you would have needed to do is allow friendship and companionship. Or even just the love of your own _grampa_."

Grampa. She had not accepted hugs from him in years now. She wanted to show him how strong she was. Physical contact is not something she saw adults exchange, so she denied needing it. It may have been pleasurable to feel an embrace from someone, but not at the cost of shattering the image she was working so hard to maintain.

"Oh, and with just that little bit extra, you could have had them recently, too. You made friends, did you not. Well. _One_ friend." The creature produced the acoustic equivalent of molten chocolate poured into a silken cup. It was more than a laugh, it was warm and seductive and yet somehow not friendly.

"But you don't even see friends if they are begging you to be with them. You always push it away. And I end up alone!" The voice's change to the small and pitiful came so unexpected after that last laugh, that Naoto had to admit feeling a pang of compassion for this broken being. Especially when she heard and felt it sob deeply.

With that, the presence behind her vanished suddenly. Naoto felt the cool, clammy air replace the warmth of the other body. She also realized that she might end up falling victim to Stockholm syndrome if she let her guard down. She needed to re-steel herself. She needed to take control of the situation.

"Thank you for releasing me."

As much as she wanted to find a way to escape, she felt unable to formulate a plan or direct her thoughts. She possibly just needed to rest more. Just … a little while…


	14. Chapter 14 - Communications 2

_Thanks, as always, to Zero-Damage on reddit for knocking out a second one this week._

 _Also, I guess, thank to amazon for not delivering Fallout4. No worries though, while I did order, I am too busy writing and beating my head against P4DAN in hard mode. **I WILL** get all songs at least stage clear if it **kills** me!_

* * *

Receipt Date: September 20th, 2011

Delivered-To: Shriogane, Naoto - shiroganenaoy

Subject: Re: Inaba

From: Shriogane, Y F - ShiroganeYF

To: Naoto-kun - shiroganenaoy

* * *

My dear Naoto.

I am sorry you had to wait so long for this reply. I tried to call you yesterday, but it would appear your phone is turned off.

The investigation here in Washington D.C. keeps me very busy. I have not worked with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation in some time, and I forgot that they approach some things differently than what I am used to doing. Maybe it is a sign of my age that I am starting to feel annoyed easier when trying to deal with changes in processes. As it stands, I appear to be 'getting on their nerves' rather frequently, and they get their payback by smothering me in paperwork. Having to rely on a translator in certain meetings adds another layer of complexity that I could very much do without. I realize I mentioned this previously, but it bears repeating. I am very pleased you continue to pay close attention to your language skills. I sadly let mine decay over the past decade.

I see from your letter that you struggle fitting in with your fellow students, is that a correct assumption?

I am very sorry, my dear. It is possibly my fault for not insisting on a more formal education when you were younger, but with my travels being what they were and you being so young, I had thought getting you tutors would be a safer, more efficient way to rear you.

Have you considered talking to the girls who find you appealing and either redirecting their interest or simply explain your own disinterest? It would appear to be the most direct route.

Please communicate with the faculty before installing a private lock to the provided pigeonhole you have been assigned.

I still feel your initial logic of being involved into a public school is a good experience for you. Should you still intent to attend university, then the formal path through high school would prepare you far better than working with any number or tutors on your own could. I have reviewed the well formulated arguments you send me before school started and I stand by your analysis. You are slated to gain much more than just academic growth, however, I feel you also stand to gain a social network, if you can but learn to get along with your class mates. That is something I cannot provide for you on your own. And, my dear, you are coming into an age where you may prefer to talk about certain things with your peers over talking to me about issues that might preoccupy you.

You mentioned Kanji Tatsumi several times now. Looking at some of your earlier letters, he is a teen himself, yes? When you say he seems stuck between being an aide and a hindrance, what do you mean? Do you feel he is involved in a manner that allows him to throw a false trail? If so, maybe investigating him directly could prove helpful in and of itself.

But you also sound disappointed in him on a personal level. Why is that? Had you established an understanding of some kind with this young man, my dear?

What about your case appears to be holding you back? What steps have you taken to reveal further insight? And at which steps of your investigation have you stopped for a general overview?

I know you worry about bothering me and your pride in your work is fantastic, but you may ask me for help, dear. There is no shame in asking a colleague for assistance and insight. I do so frequently when working on cases, from you and others. Sometimes we are simply too close to a case to find an immediate solution or we even can end up missing crucial data simply by looking into the wrong place.

I would be glad if you shared your thoughts and trails so far with me, Naoto.

Have the police actually stated they would abandon the case? You spoke highly of Dojima-san; has he not been supportive?

Finally, I wish I had gotten you on the phone to say this, but since you cannot be reached right now:

Never again claim that your work reflects badly on me. You are fifteen years old, my dear, you have over two dozen cases already solved, several of which without any assistance. You are a strong young woman, living on her own for long stretches of time. I know how hard you work. Did you know I have friends in Kyoto who told me about your sleeping habits? I am proud of you. I know you are an outstanding example of dedication and that you apply yourself fully to any work placed before you.

If you claim I am not pleased with you, you claim I do not notice any of these qualities in you.

I am proud of you, my dear. I love you.

Call me when you are no longer incommunicado.


	15. Chapter 15

_Sorry for the slow-down, you guys. While I do have a few chapters to catch up on, my poor proof reader needs some R &R now and again._

 _Thanks to all you commentators, as always, especially_ _Catherine, who's been loyalty nudging me along and the wonderful and terrible influence of_ _Ikasury. Don't worry, PC is still on the table. *wink*_

* * *

She felt that she was nearing the end of her short-lived patience yet again. After some more posturing and grand-standing by the clone, boasting about the prowess of the guards (which it oddly never specified) and speeches on how it would wipe out any aggressors approaching them; Naoto and the clone had watched how the teens fought and fought, progressing through the defenses the clone had underlined several times as being undefeatable. She felt like it took forever, now and again the teens vanished from the CC-TV, then returned what seemed like moments or hours later.

She had lost all sense of time, her repeated loss of consciousness (it could not be simply falling asleep, surely) muddling up her normally well-honed sense of time. Her watch had stopped working, the date and time settings seemed broken and showed all number eights. Perhaps it had gotten damaged. She would surely need to open it once she got home and inspect the parts for damage or corrosion.

During one of the clearer moments she had, Naoto wondered what that combat looked like for the teens. Seen from the outside through the cameras, she just saw the teens rushing into a darkened mist and then re-appearing shortly after. Sometimes injured, so she was certain it _was_ combat she saw. But she could never actually make out what happened. Each of them carried more or less preposterous weapons. Narukami seemed to hold a _zweihander_ , while Tatsumi seemed to carry a table of all things one moment, then appeared to carry a kind of shield the next. Satonaka seemed unarmed, as did Amagi. And that strange friend of theirs, Ted, if she remembered correctly, seemed to have insisted on that ridiculous bear-suit, having equipped what looked like genuine _pantera_.

And while she had no direct proficiency or familiarity of the base's blueprint, something told her that they were coming closer. Most likely the more and more feverish snaps of sobbing and angry insults from the clone, if nothing else.

She abhorred to admit the fact, but she started to feel anxious in the presence of the creature.

Suddenly the clone flew into an indescribable rage. Between its grandstanding and fits of crying, it ran from console to console, pushing buttons, flipping levers. Naoto lifted tired eyes to the screens, all showing the teens returning once more, this time all of them and not just a small group. Furious, the clone spun around and bolted in a dead run towards her. It stepped on the oversized coat, stumbled, and fell on its knees before the exhausted detective.

Tears streaming down its face, it looked up at her, its yellow eyes seemingly glowing. "They are here!"

Naoto barely registered her alleviation through the fatigue she felt. "Indeed. The game is up."

"They have come to take you away from me!"

"No. They have come to return me where I belong."

"You belong here! You belong with me!" It fell forward, drumming impotent fists on the metal grates of the floor. "You _must_ stay. I n- _need_ you!"

Naoto felt a vestige of pity for that broken creature. Whoever had created it must have been a cold-hearted maker indeed. So much raw emotion does not come out of a void. It comes from suppressed feelings - years of repression and isolation; possibly years of abuse conducted directly at it.

The creature shuffled forward on its hands and knees. "Please... _please_..!" Naoto shook her head and pulled herself to her feet.

The groan of agonized metal sounded behind them, as a door rumbled open, two sections sliding apart. She knew it had been a door, but nothing seemed to open it. _So there was a release for it, but on the other side only._

She heard the team run inside. She was not sure how she had expected her rescue to happen, especially seeing she had always still expected to escape on her own, but she heard the familiar and somehow comforting shout of "Naoto!" in the voice of Kanji Tatsumi. It had been her assessment that he would be the one who would seek her out. He was, after all, the last one she spoke to and he was the one she had known the longest, in a way. His appearance with the rest of the group could only mean that he had figured out the hints she had presented him with.

Still. It grated on her she even needed rescuing. She turned to face them, fighting to keep herself in finely controlled composure, pushing her aches, pains and nausea aside. "It's about time you arrived," she said flatly. "Dealing with this child has been quite a pain."

The clone looked up, too, started, and grabbed for her arm. The voice hitched high, wailing. "No! No, no, don't go!" It clutched at her, holding on as if she was the only life line in a stormy sea. "Why, why do people always leave me? …I'm gonna be alone forever."

She once more felt the pang of empathy for the sorrow the creature must endure and shuddered at its touch. She allowed the hands clutching her arm however. She had grown accustomed to the creature touching her in these last few... hours? Possibly. She shook her head, not looking beside her. "This is useless. I need to go back now."

The crying grew more frantic beside her. "You know what it's like! Why? Why are you leaving me here? Why am I always left alone?"

Naoto swallowed a wave of nausea and mumbled a reply. "Try to understand. I need to lead my life. I cannot be held back here. I cannot take care of you or be held back by you."

She felt a tear-soaked face trying to snuggle against her hand. "It's s-so lonely, I don't _wanna_ be alone!"

In response, Naoto could only roll her eyes. She had tried reason. She had tried demands, questions, comforting. She was out of further attempts at this point. She was also aching, feeling quite ill and needed to leave here. The sooner, the better.

She heard the teens talk to one another quietly, but was too far to actually make out what they were saying. Why had they rushed in here, but now were passive? She could still be in danger, but they simply stood afar and watched. She felt reminded of Tatsumi's injury during the school trip and the passiveness his peers had shown that night.

Naoto turned to glimpse at the clone, disconnecting its grasping hands with a small shake of her arm. "I see you still wear the same face as me," She attempted to make her voice louder now, but her tone was not quite level. She had to explain this somehow. Make sure the teens understood that she had nothing to do with this being. The feeling of illness seemed to rise again. "But the similarities end there. The difference between me and you is-"

"Differences? Why delude yourself? I _am_ you." The creature switched voices seamlessly, into the same deep, exaggerated, commanding voice it always used when it was mocking her. The tears vanished as if by magic, as always they did when this shift happened. It proudly rose beside her, one hand painfully clutching her arm once more; one turned to the team, then casting the sleeve toward itself. "These childish gestures are no mere affectation - they're the truth! A truth you have been hiding! And by hiding, the only one you hurt is the one you are trying to protect."

Naoto felt a stream of ice-cold, molten iron flow into her spine. She grabbed at the pointing arm and tried to jerk it back. "You will not do this. You will not involve them in... in _that_ ," she hissed.

"What?" the clone sneered. "The fools all say it, don't they? 'You're only a child,' 'Keep out of our business, kid' and so forth - doesn't that sound familiar?"

Her voice raised in pitch. "That, that has nothing to do-"

"But it's the key to everything, isn't it? No matter how many cases you spend hours cogitating over, no matter how many crimes you solve, you're a child in their eyes! It's only your brain they're interested in, the grey matter locked up in that skull." The being pulled its arm free and swung it towards the team, possibly pointing. "Just like them. They are not here because they _like_ you, Shirogane. They just think you'll be a fun plaything. For a little while, at least. Until your novelty has worn off."

Naoto's eyes followed the gesture with a blank stare. What if that was true? They did not know her, not really. The only ones who may have had any kind of positive feeling for her seemed to be Tatsumi and Kujikawa, and with these two she was not entirely sure, either. Kujikawa less than Tatsumi, but that possibly because she kept trying to flirt with Naoto. It make her uneasy. Kanji Tatsumi never flirted.

He now lurched forward, his brows drawn down, fists shaking at his sides. "Naoto, that ain't true, don'-"

Narukami placed a hand on the punk's shoulder and held him back, saying something softly.

In reply to whatever words were spoken, Tatsumi straightened his back, his muscles showing taut under his tank top. He trembled, and his poise appeared to be at the point of rushing forward.

The clone sneered, turning its attention back to the detective. "An impeccable performance, Naoto- _kun_. You've demonstrated how very, _very_ clever you are, and how utterly wrong these children were. I'm sure they're all quite intimidated." It draped a long sleeve around Naoto's shoulder. "What happens now?"

She wanted to shoot a determined, strong answer back... but no words came to her. _A plaything_. Was she a plaything even to those of her own age? What was she? Where would she go from here? She pinched her eyes shut as a sharp pain invaded her temples yet again; fingers of it trying to gouge at her eyes.

"Oh, but you already know!" the clone trilled. "As long as people need your talents, you're an ace detective - but when you're done, out the door you go." The arm around her shoulder hugged her close, near and tenderly, but the hand that gripped her was rough and the fingers boring into her shoulders painfully. A fleeting thought of a falcon holding its prey entered her mind.

Her head sank further, her field of vision now being bordered by her cap and the metal grate under her feet. She could not bear looking at either the clone or the teens.

The creature shoved her aside with a snarl, sending her stumbling. "And yet the outcome surprises you. Every. Single. _Time_! Society is two-faced and playing pretend does nothing to deal with that. The real adults will always win - and you, you're just a lonely child!" With a gleeful laugh it added "Not even the other kids come to play with you, they just gawk," pointing at the others with a cheerful and quite childish giggle.

Naoto swallowed a wave of nausea, stumbling; her hand reaching behind herself, trying to find something to hold on to. She grasped the rim of the metal table. She could hear the teens talking softly. Still impassive.

And then she heard it again. The being started to cry, and turning her head slightly, she saw its whole body jerking with sobs, lifting the huge sleeves against its eyes. "I-I wanna be a grown-up!" The clone nearly choked, voice higher than ever. "I wanna be a big boy right now, then, then they'll see - I'll show them who I am!"

She lifted a shaking hand to her cap, holding the brim down, not wanting to see it any longer; wanting to shut out the whole situation. It was mocking her. Emulating her somehow, but always missing the point. These were not her thoughts at all! Why would it paint such a grotesque picture of her - in front of others her own age?

It wrung its hands in oversized sleeves. "Please... please! I...I want a reason for me to stay!" The sobbing turned into a desperate wail. "You do, too. We belong together… Please. You must not let go."

Naoto's hand clutched at the table, her eyes pinched shut against another wave of pain throughout her body. Her words started as a whisper, gaining volume as she spoke. "Stop it... go away... _That's enough_!"

It cringed and the next words were barely audible between hiccups and sobs, saturated with anguish and torment. Its voice cracked around each word as it howled, "I _wuh_ -want... a _reh_ -reason… to _stay uh-alive_!"

Naotos' head snapped up, her eyes rimmed by tears of distress. _How could it know? How could it possibly have known these thoughts buried within_?

She had never shared these thoughts, never even dared express the lonely feeling of any escape at all in written manner. She knew she had these feelings occasionally. Knew she often felt like being a burden to Grampa, or how everyone else could simply move on easier, or how the longing for her parents could simply be snuffed out with just one action, just one lift of the barrel, just one bullet-

 _NO_! She furiously ran her hands over her face, not allowing the tears to fall, roughly wiping them away. "I-I can find my own reason for living!"

The voice altered with a laugh. "Your own reason? Impossible, Naoto- _kun_. You are but a child. How can you change that essential truth?"

Trembling hands clapped over her ears. "Stop saying that…" Naoto looked up, her hands dropping to her sides, balling into fists. She felt herself shift, felt herself readying herself to swing at the creature, hitting it, shutting it up. "S-Stop it...!"

"Simply put, you cannot. You idolize the sort of 'strong' and 'cool' men who populate detective fiction, but for all your efforts to emulate them, all your attempts to dissemble, you know full well you're nothing of the sort." She saw the creature approach her, felt it placing both hands firmly on her shoulders. "Unless you can change the person that you _are_. And you are a child."

Naoto's hands unfurled from fists and flew back to cover her ears. "Don't! Don't you dare call-"

She caught herself. The pain, the nausea, the distractions thrown up by the creature. She needed to escape its pull. End the discussion. She shot a glance at the team of teenagers, then pulled herself up, roughly planting a hand on her hip. She tilted her head up and coolly glanced at the clone. Just for a few minutes. She only needed to hold on a few minutes, then she could take control, leave this place, and continue her hunt for the killer. Her case - that was the goal. Her case and finding new leads.

"Endless affectations," the clone clucked, scowling. "But there's no avoiding first principles. _Admit_ that you're a child, and _admit_ that there's nothing you can do about it!"

Naoto's mind was racing. Truth. All of what the creature had said could be considered a certain, limited truth-

It spun towards the operating table, lab-coat twirling about it. "Now then! Our analysis is complete. Let us begin the body alteration procedure!"

The detective simply stared. She thought she had grown accustomed to the taunts and insults. But bearing them in front of an audience…

The clone hopped on the table, perched on the corner and smirked at her. "So strong! So silent! Presumably you have no objections... 'Naoto' Shirogane."

Her resolve shattered. It would not dare. It could not! It would not bring _that_ up, not with any witnesses. Her voice fought to remain smooth. "S-Stop it!"

The creature just chuckled and rocked back on the table, heels kicking against the side. "'Naoto'... such a cool, manly name! But a name doesn't change the truth. It doesn't let you cross the barrier between the sexes!" Naoto winced, it felt like someone had taken a hammer and flung it through her absolute self; sending it to shatter all around her.

It leaned forward now, chin resting on its hand, eyes wide and curious. The child-like mannerisms clashed with the cold words that it spoke. "Tell me, Naoto-kun...how could you become an ideal man when you were never male to begin with?"

She could hear the teens mumble, but could not hear them. Not because they were too quiet, but because everything in her head ran amok. Her heart pumping furiously, she heard her pulse like the rushing of an ocean whipped by a hurricane. She shook with each thundering heartbeat. With a shaking hand, Naoto pulled off her hat and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. She tried to force her breath to become calm; tried to make her heart stop racing. Evenly. Slowly. The heart thundering in her chest made it quite impossible. "I won't throw a tantrum," she hissed. "That accomplishes nothing!"

The clone's deep, manic laugh echoed through the chamber. "Ah, how often I've heard those words from the adults! 'Throwing a tantrum won't solve anything, Naoto-kun,' and other such bilge!" It jumped down from the table and sauntered over to her again. Its voice was smooth, warm, like honey. "They made you cry, didn't they?"

It slid behind her, sensual hands running over her arms, up to her shoulders and hugged her closer lovingly. The same silky voice mumbled into her ears, warm breath making her shiver. "They made you cry. They made you feel alone and isolated. And yet here you are, mimicking those same men. What exactly are you trying to justify?"

She twisted from the embrace, one hand balled to a first, half pulled back. "What...?"

"It's all right. You needn't suffer anymore." The beings voice was smooth, almost gentle. It reached out and trailed a finger under her chin. "That's why you're undergoing this bodily alteration procedure. That's why you need to be fixed - and then everything will be so much better."

"I-I don't want..." She edged away, glancing from the creature to the team and back again - before shaking her head. The pain behind her eyes and temples was nearly consuming her by now. She felt weak, sick. She lifted a shaking hand to her face, willing the stinging in her eyes to cease this instant.

"You throw a tantrum, but it fails to change the situation a single bit!" The being tutted sadly, letting its arms drop. "I can quite understand the feeling." Eyes glowing brighter than ever, it paused, tipped its head, smirking balefully. "After all, I am you."

How can that be? How could they... did someone attempt to replace her? But would this was impossible. It was an inferior copy of her! ...were the other teens replaced in the same fashion? Wh-No! It was trying to confuse her, that's all.

Naoto gathered herself, flinching at the throbbing pain in her head. Cold anger grasped her and she sneered at the creature. Fists back, shivering with fury she shot back. "That is not true!"

Chie shouted out behind her. "No, Naoto-kun, don't say it!"

She wanted to turn around, ask for them to leave, ask for them to help, but the glare of bright yellow eyes consumed her entire field of vision. She heard a second voice speak up behind her. "It's okay." Tatsumi's voice sounded odd. A mix of determination and sadness. "Let the kid spill the whole thing. If not, Naoto's gonna keep hurting. We'll just do our job and kick the Shadow's ass, yeah?"

Hands still curled into fists, Naoto glanced over her shoulder at him. _Shadow_? Their gazes met, and for all of a split-second, she felt a rush of energy. It felt as if he was willing her to push through. As if his being there was the needed encouragement she had been waiting for since she arrived here. And something else... through her pain and weakness, something else crept up inside of her. Thankfulness? Naoto was unsure of what it was. She was just so tired and exhausted. _Emotional, as a result of … whatever all of this was._

She watched him lift a solid-looking shield, the muscles in his arms and shoulders playing as he did.

Behind her came another hysterical laugh. Naoto turned, flinching and shivering with pains and nausea, watching the creature; the _shadow_. "As if you know anything about me! You'll kick my ass, huh? Go ahead and try, you lizard-brained imbecile!"

Naoto frowned. Kanji Tatsumi may be simple, but that was going too far. "This only delivers the final proof! You are not me!"

She whirled around to face the being - and stopped as she noticed the floor around the ...shadow turning black. Dark fog rose up from through the grates and swirled thickly around the shadow's legs, spiraling up until even the yellow glow of its eyes disappeared.

She felt being flung across the room. Later, she could not recall hitting the ground.

The exhaustion of the previous days tried to shut her down, but she clawed at consciousness, wanting to refuse giving in... She was carried... Placed down... She thought she could hear Tatsumi bellow. But then she slid away into darkness, conscious thought retreating.

###

Cohesiveness returned. "Mmph?" Her body was positively permeated in dull pains and aches. Her head hurt. Her eyes fought her as she tried to open them. "Where..."

"Naoto-kun! Are you okay?" Amagi-san. Hands tried to latch on, but she needed to avoid the contact. It could reveal her frame and... Other, more hidden items of clothing - for a better lack of terminology. She roughly squirmed away and pulled herself to her feet, legs struggling to support her, squinting at the oddly bright green light, body shivering with aches and weakness.

"Wh- I... I remember you all arriving here, and ..." Naoto trailed off, glancing at each of them in turn, then around the room - and when her eyes finally settled on the shadow, she flinched. Memory came flooding back. The speeches. The grandstanding. They had gotten a show they were unlikely to forget and even less unlikely to have missed entirely. "You... you all saw everything." She forced her eyes shut and sighed deeply.

She had been trying so hard to deny the possibility. Had spun the most ludicrous of explanations she could think of. (An _Android_ , Shirogane, really?) But again she had to count up the facts. The way it knew things about her, things she was certain not even Grampa had seen about her in years. Or the way it echoed some of her deeply hidden emotions. A 'Shadow' the teens had called it. And while they had rushed to be here for her, they had watched quietly, even holding one another back. They knew this world, it seemed, and knew it better than she had. Not involving them into her planning showed itself as a miscalculation now.

Maybe this creature was indeed a… an individual she had formed. A manifest of her fears and hurts. A part of her that both wished to be protected and urgently desired to protect her in turn. Just where had she been taken?

Naoto walked towards the cl- ... the _shadow_ , looked it up and down, and let out a soft sigh. "I don't know what you are," she told it quietly, "but I know where you come from."

Hanamura coughed. "Uh… You can tell me to butt out, Naoto-kun... but... well, why'd you pretend to be a guy?" he asked, yelping painfully a moment later. "Come on, it's the obvious question!"

Naoto's jaw tightened. "It's... complicated." And that was only the briefest possible way to describe the situation.

"We have time," someone behind her said evenly. "Plenty, now."

Naoto closed her eyes again, and felt a sleeve-covered hand try to take hers. She allowed the contact and opened her hand to welcome it, closing fingers around the shivering hand in hers. She looked into the mirror of her face, dominated by bright yellow eyes, filled with tears, as they gazed longingly at her. "Very well. I shall endeavor to explain." She gave the hand a squeeze, then turned back to the... the other teens. For a fleeting moment, the word 'friends' tried to form, but was viciously smothered down.

"I lost both my parents in an accident when I was very young. My grandfather took me in." Her gaze unfocussed, staring through her fellow students unseeing as she chewed her lip a moment. "I... had little talent for making friends, so I spent my time reading detective novels in his study."

"I-I remember you looking at them," mumbled Tatsumi. She re-focused her sight and looked at him. He in turn eyed the floor grates. "At the bookstore."

As Naoto nodded, the shadow opposite her mimicked the motion. It drew a deep breath and said, voice quietly wavering with emotion. "When I grow up, I'm gonna be an awesome, hard-boiled detective!"

"More or less," Naoto muttered. She looked back at the .. Well. At her _self_ , for a lack of better explanation. She turned back to the others. "My parents were also detectives, making me fifth in the Shirogane line. An inherited occupation can feel stifling, yet I yearned for the day I could follow in their footsteps and become a detective myself." She shook her head. "But I was always alone. I suspect my grandfather felt it was his duty to compensate for that by helping me realize my dream."

"Which is why you've already solved so many cases." the tall gray-haired boy said.

"Exactly, Narukami-san. I secretly aided my grandfather with his clients - and before I knew it, people started calling me Junior Detective. At first, I was delighted... but not everyone welcomed my collaboration." She grimaced. "My status as a 'child' has been sufficient to offend many potential colleagues."

She felt her legs weaken, so she found a console and leaned her hip against it as casually as she could manage. "Were my youth the only issue this situation would naturally resolve itself with time. Unfortunately, changing from a child to an adult only solves one side of the problem. Changing from a woman to a man... that half is impossible to achieve merely with the passage of time."

"Do you not like being a girl?" Yukiko asked. "Is that why you always dress like a boy?"

Naoto nodded, eyes averted. "My sex doesn't fit my ideal image of a detective. Besides, the police department is a male-orientated society. Give them one 'concrete' reason to look down on me, and nobody would require my assistance any longer."

"You don't know that," Tatsumi insisted brusquely. He glowered with the suddenness of his quicksilver mood.

Amagi nodded in quiet agreement before speaking up. "Kanji-kun's right. And you already know that what you really want isn't to become an adult or become a boy, don't you?"

Naoto crossed her arms and lowered her head to think. She took stock of her general being and feelings.

Was she truly gender dysphoric? No. When it came down to it, it was more like an actor pretending to play a part than a human who felt emotional distress at being trapped in another body than their perceived gender. She did not desire to be male for any reason other than work. She also had to realize she lacked any female role models she had fully embraced in her ideal career. She barely remembered her parents and Grampa was as close to the stereotype as one could come.

It was an act. A show she had put on. And in the end, it was not the actual problem at all. "You're absolutely right," Naoto said to Amagi-san. She turned her head to her shadow and cocked her head, watching as it again mirrored her movement. Slowly, hesitantly, it walked up to her, covered hands reaching yet again. The yearning in the action took hold of her chest. Years of pushing aside her emotions; years of teaching herself to not feel, to not be a child, to not be emotional and feminine... was this what it would look like inside of her, were she able to see the results?

Naoto took its hands in hers. "I am sorry," she began. "I kept ignoring you, pretending you didn't exist. But you are me, and I am you. What I should yearn for-" Naoto hesitated, one hand rubbing her neck. "No. What I must strive for, isn't to become a man. I must accept myself for who I really am."

Before she'd even finished, a blue glow around the shadow had begun to flare brighter and brighter, eventually swallowing it completely. The last thing to vanish in the glow seemed to be a tear-stained smile.

With the sound of breaking glass, a small winged figure appeared in its place - then vanished, the light settling on Naoto instead and diffusing over her skin.

As innocent as that moment seemed, it came with a physical component. It felt as if someone tried to pull the skin from her scalp, followed by a prickling feeling down her spine. Finally, she felt a taut pulling feeling behind her eyes, as if something physical was trying to push its way inside. Her eyes narrowed, and she grabbed her head - then collapsed to her hands and knees. Though her panting and the pain of it all, she noticed how Tatsumi jolted forward, stopping after a few hasty steps towards her. None of the others had moved.

"Wha-what was that?" she hissed.

"You'll be fine, Naoto-kun." Rise Kujikawa knelt beside her. A gentle hand rubbed her shoulders; another tried to help Naoto settling back on her heels. It was a sign of her exhaustion that Naoto was unable to shake off either help or sign of affection. "Same thing happened to all of us."

Naoto blinked at her, her eyes watery with pain. "You're... certainly a devious bunch. No wonder the perpetrator has eluded the police." Hands leaning on her knees, she let out a shaky, humorless chuckle. "C-Can't believe you kept ...something like this hidden. For so long." She noticed her speech slurring slightly and fought a shudder.

"Yukiko did try to tell you," Hanamura jokingly pointed out.

Naoto heard a confused "I did?"

"Yeah, back at Tatsumi Port Island, the nightclub, you- ow! Stop doing that!"

The next to speak up was Satonaka. "Yosuke, keep your mouth shut! Um... I'll explain later, okay?"

"Well, regardless..." Narukami's voice broke in, "at least now we know this case isn't over."

Naoto fought slowly to her feet. Her head pulsed painfully with each motion, and the nausea made her feel… smaller. Weaker then she had before. She saw Amagi offer her a hand, and she reached out for it to steady herself - before yanking her hand back sharply. _They cannot see how weak I really feel. I'm sure my hand is shaking._

"Yu's right." Hanamura winked at her, flashing a quick grin. "And you proved it, Naoto."

"Yeah, s'right," Tatsumi interjected with an odd glare at the second-year. Naoto noted he offered a hand to Kujikawa, helping her up, then turned to the detective. "C'mon, kid. Let's get you out of here."

Relief flooded Naoto. She was safe now. The teens, limited abilities and all, had pulled through for her. She gave Tatsumi the specter of a smile. "It is as I said when we last spoke. Last night... or the night before? I'm sorry, my watch stopped working while here."

She stumbled, her legs nearly giving way as she tried to take her first step. Kujikawa was at her side at once, gently catching her. "Kanji-kun, you klutz! Offer a hand?"

Naoto shook her head. "Thank you... but, that will not be necessary." She pulled free from Kujikawa and steadied herself against a console once more.

Amagi had a puzzled look for a while, before she spoke up. "Naoto-kun, how long do you think you've been here?"

"I am not sure, I kept passing out, possibly due to these noxious fumes all around." She rubbed a hand over her face tiredly. "Seeing how comparatively well I seem to feel overall, I estimated it might have been about 36 hours."

Kujikawa shot her a glance, then smiled tightly. "Well, I am glad you are feeling alright! Now, let's try that walking thing again, okay?"

Setting her jaw tightly, forcing her body to move based on pure willpower, Naoto started to head out of her fortress.


	16. Chapter 16

_Many thanks to rZD, who had to escape a post-nuclear Boston in order to proof read. (I know the call of such things can be hard, so I AM thankful he takes the time still. ^^_

 _Catherine, hope this was the bit you've been waiting for, if not, you know my chapters are a little more 'filled' than the ones in Shortest Distance, it'll come._

 _RageCaje, happy you're having fun! Changes have to be, after all, this is her point of view, and cannot create her purely from what Kanji experiences in SD. NEEDED to add "You're not me!" because, yes, totally was missing and had to address "find my own reasons for living", because that line had always made me sit up and take notice._

 _For now, let's get her home, eh?_

* * *

She was unable to recall the winding paths taken. The strange red-and-black striped shadows continued to make her nauseous; walking became a matter of pure will. She simply kept trotting along, one foot stubbornly placed before the other, allowing the girls around her to gently direct her motions now and again. She was certain she actually lost consciousness a few times. It was that, or that her brain simply lacked the energy to keep a record of her transition between places.

When she found herself on hands and knees yet again, fighting to gather her senses and force them to report in, the first thing reporting in was Tatsumi's strange-sounding voice. Pressed, somehow. Angry. Worried?

"Hey... hey!" Blurred vision made it hard to truly see, but a darker shadow seemed to be in front of her a moment later. "C'mon, answer!" If she concentrated, her vision actually managed some colours alongside shadows. As she narrowed her eyes, she saw a hesitant hand seeming to appear before her, then being drawn away.

She pinched her eyes shut again. If anyone had told her that she had spent the last week being held bound and gagged while receiving the battering of a lifetime, she could have believed it. The aches and pains throughout her body made even simple muscle work difficult. She could not even fully experience mild annoyance as she found even breathing to be a struggle. Her heart thundered, working hard to keep up with the physical stress her body underwent.

A quiet female voice spoke up near her. "Sheesh... Naoto-kun really put her life on the line for this." Satonaka, possibly? A small burst of pride at her words tried to make her lips quirk into a smile.

"Nothing to be proud of..." Tatsumi's gruff voice cut that impulse short.

"No, it isn't," another male, low voice agreed. "But if she hadn't, we wouldn't know the killer is still on the loose."

The delinquent growled, low and angry. And then muttered, almost softly, "You're too frickin' reckless, dammit."

This had to stop. They worried about her, and she did not wish to burden them more than she had by needing a rescue mission. "I-" she swallowed, "I never doubted... that you'd all come for me." She attempted to push herself up, but aside from her muscles shakily protesting, nothing happened. "Though the reality h-has turned out to be... far beyond what I'd imagined"

"Tch... what a dumbass!" Tatsumi snapped, pulling himself to his feet. "You're no genius at all. We were tearing our hair out over you!"

Fury so hot it froze her every thought made her pull up her head finally. Her vision swam a moment, then it latched on to the tall teen towering before her. She forced herself to try and sit on her heels, trying to at least get so far as to kneel. She tried to glare at the insult, will herself to demand he explain himself.

It only added to her anger that the best she could manage was a small frown directed at him from under her brow.

When the tall young man met her eyes for a moment, his expression shifted. She had seen this shift before, in others; when conducting interviews to be precise. And then realization came. _He is putting on a show. He isn't angry, not really. He looks like someone who is angry at being caught out._

A new thought tried to elbow into the foreground. _Why was he fussing?_ None of the other teens seemed as preoccupied with her actions. So why him? He frown shifted into puzzlement. _Who are you, Kanji Tatsumi?_

Kujikawa lightly skipped to his side, happily looping her arms around one of his. "Oh, so you did worry about her, Kanji!" The thought that she may have missed the two them in a romantic engagement surfaced briefly, but was buried again under a new wave of nausea. She closed her eyes and let her head sink.

"Shuddup, Rise! Mind your own damn business!"

Well. Maybe she was wrong in that last thought. She was not sure why she should care about that issue one way or the other right now. However, that previous thought still hung on. She held his gaze, the frown melting into puzzlement. Why did he care about her actions seemingly more than the others?

"Okay, guys," Narukami said, stepping in front of Kujikawa, "Let's not have this conversation in the middle of Junes, all right? I think Naoto-kun needs to get home."

 _Junes_?

"I'll take her," Amagi immediately offered, bending down at Naoto's side.

She, in turn, reacted in the only logical and acceptable way. "It's... all right... I can... " She shivered, words trailing off.

"No way, missy!" The detective winced at the outburst of Kujikawa. It was far too remains of the way she had addressed her in the Junes food court only a few short months ago. "Don't think that doing everything on your own is the 'adult' thing to do! Me and Yukiko-senpai'll take care of you."

 _One should always name oneself last in a listing of people… Why would I even care about her composition at a time like this?_

While she still eyed the teen idol through half-open eyes, the grey-haired boy spoke up, directing the others. "You too, Tatsumi. Can't have them out causing trouble this late at night."

This was too much. Naoto flinched, mumbling to herself. "Three of them. Am I so pitiful a display? What's next, calling an ambulance?" She levelled a frustrated glare at Amagi, Kujikawa and Tatsumi in turn - before finally giving a small nod.

As much as this was an embarrassment, she needed some small assistance. She still felt unable to rise to her feet, so when a pair of hands each reached for her upper arms on both sides, she did not shake them off again. Slowly the two girls helped her to her feet and she finally got to take in her surroundings.

It was indeed Junes, the electronics section. She had been here frequently, though not near the TVs. Since the small specialized store in the shopping district had closed down, she came here to buy tin-solder, wiring and similar items for her electronic tools, gadgets and machinery.

Once erect, she gently rejected the steadying hands and willed her legs into motion. Taking the lead before the others might convince them that she did not need to be helped further and she could make her own way home.

* * *

That however turned out to be a fleeting fancy.

When, for the fourth time in half as many minutes, her legs refused to support her and she nearly found herself barrelling into one of the girls at her side, Tatsumi grunted with annoyance and put up a hand, motioning the girls to a halt. He stepped before Naoto, eyes her wearily, and went, his back towards her, on one knee. "Hop on."

Naoto gaped and stared. "Wh... what?"

The boy grumbled something before replying audible. "J-Jus'... c'mon, man, you can barely stand. Hop on."

She could swear she heard the beginning of a titter to either side of her. She flushed furiously. "Absolutely not!"

His reply came with a quick glare over his shoulder. "Ya can climb on, or I can toss ya over my shoulder."

"Neither! I will not be lugged about like- like a sack of rice, Tatsumi-san!" She shot Amagi a baleful glare as the latter could no longer contain her laughing and snorted a few times.

She turned her head to see him tilt his head back, looking towards the cloud-hung sky. "Rise," he sighed.

Before Naoto could react, she felt two hands placed on her shoulders and herself being being pushed forward. Unable to catch herself in her weakened state, she stumbled and fell onto Tatsumi's back. His swift reaction secured his arms around her legs and under her knees; while reflex made her swing her arms around his neck.

She absolutely did _not_ squeak. She was startled. It was just an outcry. Anyone could have reacted in a similar fashion.

It was over in a flash, and Tatsumi already straightened up, lightly tossing her up a few times to settle her more comfortably onto his back.

 _Outrageous_! "You will put me down this _very_ instant, Tatsumi-san," she hissed against his neck. She emphasized her words with a sharp kick; trying to click her heels into his sides. She only managed to hit his legs weakly.

"If by 'this very instant' you mean the moment we get you home, Naoto-kun," Kujikawa happily said beside them, "then you are _absolutely_ right. Besides, Kanji gives great piggy-back rides, I am sure!"

The detective glowered at her and bit back the scathing comment on her mind. _Well, Kujikawa-san, you appear like you'd know all about those._ She tried a punch against his shoulders. "Down, Tatsumi-san. _Now_. This isn't funny!"

He grunted, but did not react in any meaningful manner.

Naoto tried to push herself away from Tatsumi. She noticed one traitorous arm curling itself against his shoulders for support. At once she made her arms twitch away from him, pushing against his back. She leaned back, but felt a hand on her from behind, pushing her forward again with way too little effort. With a light giggle, she heard Amagi-san say, "Careful, Naoto-kun, you don't want to fall off. It's a long way down." A snorted laugh. "Kanji-kun is so very tall-" and then it just dissolved into laughter.

She would not stand for it. She balled her fists and pounded them on his shoulders. "Set me down. Now." She added a kick for extra emphasis.

He did not reply, simply taking one long-legged step after the next.

She heard Amagi and Kujikawa start to chat lightly, walking behind them.

Maybe the gentle approach would work. Naoto swallowed and lowered her voice. "Listen, Tatsumi-san..."

He murmured what sounded like "Tatsumi again," but she was not entirely sure. He had been rather quiet.

She hesitated a moment, feeling his grip around her legs and the steady rhythm of his pace. It was... eerily soothing.

"I appreciate your offer to come to-to my assistance in this... this matter." She placed one hand on each of his shoulders and leaned forward, lowering her voice further. "But surely you, too, agree- I mean, you see it, too, what a strangely c-compromising position we are in. At this moment. I would n-not wish to embarrass you before your associates and-"

"Do you always talk so much?" he replied gruffly.

Naoto actually fell silent at that, taken aback. Thankfully, the girls seemed to have missed the comment, as the chatter behind her did not cease and they still seemed to be deep in their own conversation.

Suddenly, gravity seemed to fail. She felt light-headed, her muscles first cramping up, then slacking. Her reflex was to tightly fling her arms across the broad shoulders in front of her, clutching at the front of his shirt as she squeezed her eyes shut. The lurching feeling didn't stop.

"Hey... Naoto?" Tatsumi's steps faltered a moment and she felt as he turned his head.

One after the other her hands let go of his shirt and clasped his shoulders. She fought down the nausea that last burst of vertigo had caused and swallowed hard. She noticed her hands shook, but she simply could not let this continue any longer. She could make it on her own, without this ridiculous show they were surely putting on right now. If anyone were to see them... if one of her co-workers from the Inaba station were to-!

She struggled, trying to make him release her legs. The only action this triggered, was a hum from him and a readjustment of his grip on her.

"Put me down." she hissed weakly, trying to give his sides a kick.

He growled deep in his throat. "You ever shut up?" He shook his head and resumed walking, lengthening his stride again.

"I said... Ugh! Put me _down_ ," Naoto repeated. "You- you d-don't need to-"

"Give it a break!"

"I... I can walk!" Her body betrayed her with a shudder.

"Yep, Naoto-kun," Kujikawa chirped behind them. "We know. Just not in a straight line and not for more than a few seconds, right?"

Naoto growled and tried another punch against Tatsumi's broad, toned shoulders. His... She frowned, trying to catch that last thought once more. It escaped her, so she turned her frown into a glare and directed it at the pierced ear in front of her.

"Well, we're almost there," Amagi said lightly.

Naoto thumped a fist against her mounts' shoulder. "Then put me _down_!"

Rise Kujikawa let out a deep sigh. "I used to think you were so eloquent, Naoto-kun."

"And I used to think you had it all together," the young man muttered, skipping a moment to make her settle down against his back. "Why you gotta be so stubborn?"

"I-I don't require your assistance - or transport for that matter," Naoto weakly mumbled into his shoulder. "So... y-you don't need to be here."

A few steps ahead, Amagi stopped in front of a tall apartment building. She ran her eyes over the lettering on the building. "Is this it, Naoto?"

Naoto peered up, one hand pressed against Tatsumi's head for support, and nodded.

"Good. Do you have your keys?"

"... Pocket." Though she punctuated her answer with another kick, it felt half-hearted, even to herself.

She surrendered to the care of her saviours. Only a few more minutes and she would be able to rid herself of them. She let her chin sink on Tatsumi's shoulder, her eyes sliding closed after she mumbled her apartment number to Amagi.

She had nearly started to actually doze off, when she felt Tatsumi stop. Shuddering, she pushed herself up, seeing Amagi ease the key into the lock, quietly opening the door. "We don't want to wake anyone up," she whispered.

"You won't," Naoto murmured. "Nobody there."

"Oh... is your grandfather away?"

"D-doesn't live here." Isn't even in the country. "Put me down," she added.

With a sigh, Amagi shook her head and pushed open the door - and, after a few seconds of fumbling, found the light switch inside.

Naoto knew what to expect, but still her apartment felt strange to her. As she saw it from behind Tatsumi's shoulders, she felt she saw it for the first time. The only true personal touch where the book shelves. And even these looks rather clinical. Just books. Stacked neatly, no variation, no changes. No personal items, save for the framed picture.

She noticed with some discomfort how the three teens that brought her here gazed about curiously.

"Tatsumi-san. P-Put me down," Naoto repeated. "Now."

"So, which one's your room?" Kujikawa asked, cheerfully ignoring her.

Naoto shifted her eyes towards her and sighed. Laying her arm over his shoulder, she pointed towards Tatsumi's left. He promptly turned towards the door and started to open the door to her bedroom.

Rise Kujikawa saved her with a squeal. "Kanji! Stop right there!"

She felt his shirt being tugged and he tried to wiggle out of the grasp. "Dammit, let go!"

"C'mon, are you seriously gonna walk right into a girl's bedroom? Put Naoto-kun on her feet."

Naoto's head sank against his back and she let out a muffled groan. As if this day had not been bad enough. Now she had to worry about her privacy being violated like this.

"Oh. Right." A trick of the light made it seem his ear grew pinkish.

He went back down to one knee, his arms uncurling from her legs. For a moment she worried he'd try to keep his hands on her, but it was the girls who took over. One of them on each side, they reached for her arms and attempted to navigate her through the door into her bedroom. She tried to pull away again, tried to see if Tatsumi was still watching. He was male! He should not be anywhere near- "Stop it! Just, j-just go away, I don't-"

"You never stop, do you?" Amagi muttered, closing the door behind them.

Kujikawa had not seemed to lose her good humour. What did she feel so happy about as it was? "It'll be all right, we're just making sure that you are okay. Why won't you just let us settle you in, hm?"

"This is my home! You should not force yourself in here and e-expect any less!"

"Oh, come, Naoto-kun! Don't be shy. We just wanna make sure you'll be alright. We've all been there, you know! If I hadn't had help, oh boy, I would have been in so much trouble."

"That's right," Amagi agreed right on top of her, "We've been there. We know what to expect."

"All I need is some rest and quiet."

"Indeed, which is why only one of us will stay here tonight." Kujikawa still had that bubble-gum smile on her face as she tripped the detective into her bed. Well. Pushed her in, really. _Alright, so she only needed to adjust my general stance towards leaning a little too much and I …keeled over. Lost my balance, that's all._ Thinking these thought with a face full of pillow did not exactly make her pride sting less.

"Y- Y- You cannot possibly be serious..." Her energy drained quickly now. Her hopes of just holding on till the teens had left was fleeting and she could no longer deny even to herself that she felt sick. But not sick enough to need a... a nursemaid!

"I think I should stay with her, Rise. I told my parents I would be hanging out with Chie, and they won't worry about me."

The idol hopped up and nodded, her pigtails bobbing. "Sounds good." She skipped to the bedroom door and called out "Okay, Kanji-kun. You and I are heading out." Amagi had followed Kujikawa, closing the door part-way.

She could follow the conversation through the nearly shut door. "What 'bout Naoto? We're not just gonna leave him, right?"

" _Her_ , Kanji."

Naoto flinched and struggled from the bed. She was right here; talking about her in third person was quite out of order. Especially in her own home! Also, it distressed her that the teens knew her secret; having them discuss it this openly was ... uncomfortable.

"Yeah, her. Whatever." At least one person who did not seem to care about her gender in the midst of all of this. Did that mean she could tell herself that their behaviour was not over her size or ... whatever else they had learned tonight? She heard him continue. "Ain't no-one else here. Who's gonna look after her?"

She simply had to try making them leave. She clawed at her bed, trying to pull herself out. This was just all too much. She needed time to evaluate the past three days; she needed to find a solution to the predicament of them knowing," I... I do not need looking after!" Further, that blush creeping up was anger. Not embarrassment. Only anger.

Amagi, her back still towards the detective, didn't even turn around. "Naoto-kun, get back in bed before I throw you in there!"

Naoto spluttered in indignation.

"And Kanji-kun," the refined young woman continued, with an exasperated sigh, "there's no need to worry. Chie can cover for me, so I'll stay here tonight."

"You mentioned! Great idea, Yukiko-senpai! C'mon, Kanji." Kujikawa.

Okay, so that was two who had left. All she needed to do was make Amagi leave... or possibly beg her to. Either way, Naoto laid a hand on the black-haired girl's arm and began saying something - when she felt her arm gripped and herself _bodily thrown_ into her bed.

"I did warn you," Amagi huffed behind her.


	17. Chapter 17 - Interlude One - Kanji

Happy post-thanksgiving, dear 'Murrican readers!

I am not quite sure my proof reader finished the story fully (either that, or I miraculously stopped making typos and stuff in the later third of the chapter).

Still, this is my first interlude and I am horrendously nervous about it, because now you guys can really compare my writing and ZD's. Let's hope I'm not disappointing you guys too much. Enjoy!

* * *

Once outside, Kanji stopped, looking back over his shoulder. He didn't usually come to this part of town. Inaba was no huge city or nothing, and he didn't like these cubes of living space.

Still. Up there, on the fourth floor, was Naoto. And he had been in the TV world for two weeks. Was he really gonna be okay?

"Kanji- _kun_! Come _on_ , it's late already, I don't want to be in more trouble with Grandma than I really need to be!"

His eyes remained glued to the building as Kanji turned. He moved into Rise's direction, gaze lingering on the building - and promptly walked into her.

"Hey! Watch it, you lug!" She slapped his arm lightly, but smiled. "You're worried, hm?"

"Yeah... I-I mean, no!" He shot the idol a glare and started to quickly walk back towards town. "Why sould I be worried? Yukiko-senpai is up there. An'-an' the killer never tried any a' us a second time. Yeah. And... Naoto's a tough guy, he'll be-"

"Naoto _is_ tough, Kanji. Quit being stupid." For all he cared, her voice was way too soft while she said that.

Kanji grunted and kept the rest of his toughts to himself. Naoto was tough, but he always really wanted to be in charge of things. Yukiko was not going to let him get away with a lot of that stuff. Man, had she really thrown him into... her. Had thrown her into bed. Yukiko would never have stayed by herself in a boy's apartment, never mind his bedroom. He shook his head. Her. Need to remember that. Not him.

Rise slipped her arms around one of his and skipped along to his reaching stride. She never seriously flirted with him, a'course, but when they started bein'- ... _well, friends, I suppose_? Anyhow, she seemed to like hangin' off his arm, at least while Yu-senpai wasn't around. He'd grown used to it by now. A little. Her stream of chatter fulled his ears with a steady hum and he couldn't even pretend that he cared for a word she said.

'Stop being stupid.' Was he being stupid? The kid had been barely able to walk out of the TV oh his own. He actually had not managed to walk home without help. Kanji himself and Rise, the only two he could compare against, hadn't been in as bad-

A finger was pointedly pushed into his arm, making him flinch. "I asked you a question, Kanji-kun!" She frowned up at him, but then her expression changed, now slightly worried. She let go of his arm and skipped in front of him for a moment, walking backwards. "Hey. Are you okay? You've been grumpy. Well, more so then you usually are, anyhow."

He blinked. Rise. Yes. "I'm okay." He hesitated. "I think I'm okay."

She looked up at him with those large eyes and just waited as they walked. With a twirl she was at his side again. Her arms returned, both of them snaking around his, holding on to him.

She would not press this, Kanji knew. She would either wait him out or simply start poking at this at a later time. _Like in front of Naoto. Shit._

"Damnit, Rise! No, I'm not okay, okay?" He ran his free hand through his hair and shook his head. "We took too long. Way, way too long. You looked pretty bad when we pulled yer out, but even you didn't need ta be carried. Naoto was close ta slipping off my back in between kicking an' punching me." He kicked a piece of trash on the ground. Frowned. Picked it up and tossed it in a nearby trash can. Some people could be such slobs.

She still hadn't said anything, simply watching him as he ranted and played local trashman.

"Matter o'fact," he ranted on his free arm making a wide gesture, "I think if not for him-" the idol took a breath to interrupt him, "her, ugh, _yes_ Rise, if not for _her_ distrecting herself with kicking me, she might have just fallen asleep, or maybe passed out or some shit." He sighed deeply and shortened his steps before continuing. "This isn't like before. This isn't like when we came ta get ya. This whole damned thing is way more shitty."

He still felt her light hands on his arm. They walked in silence for a while, before he lifted his free hand, rubbing the warming back of his neck.

"S-Sorry. Didn't mean ta swear. It-it just pisses me off, ya know? I already felt like we may have been too late when we came for you. Naoto had to wait even longer. We should'a hurried, gotten better, taken care of this thing right away."

He felt his arm being hugged tightly and Kanji turned his head to look down. Rise looked up at him with gentle eyes and weird look on her face he had not seen on her before. "You really care." They stopped and a smile lit up her face.

Kanji frowned, then blushed furiously. _This again?_ "Damnit, Rise, stop trying ta make it sound like all I think about is N-Naoto!" He started to walk again. _I'll drag her along if she won't keep up, damnit!_

The idol pulled him short and made him stop again after only a few steps. He hesitated, but looked down at her still. The look she gave him was neither teasing, nor very amused. "No, Kanji- _chan_ , you got it wrong again." He took a breath to yell at her for real, he hated when she or Ted called him that, but the idol just kept going. "I don't just mean Naoto-kun right now. You think about things. You worry about things. I'm not sure any of the others ever even mentioned to me they felt like they could have come for me any quicker, or felt like they even needed to. If they had, no one said anything. So. Thank you."

Kanji didn't know how to reply to that. He looked away from her, his eyes stinging uncomfortably. "'s cool. I mean, you're cool and stuff. 'm sorry ya got stuck so long."

Rise giggled, squeezing him close in a tight hug for a moment. "You're pretty cool, too, Moronji."

"Oh get _bent_ , Rise..."

* * *

His Ma was already asleep when Kanji came home. He snuck into his bedroom without turning on any lights and stripped down to shirt and boxers, folding up his clothes before putting them down. Trying really hard to keep his mind blank, all he could see was linked to Naoto. The weird base-like hideout. The shadow - oh shit, that shadow! And then seeing both Naoto lose it like that and looking as if he... she. As if she was about...

His thoughts successfully derailed again and Kanji sighed, sitting down on his futon. He pulled up his legs into sitting cross-legged and just stared at the ground.

Her. Naoto was a girl. Cool, aloof, casual Naoto Shirogane was a chick. A chick who had never treated him like any of the other girls, at that. Never accused him of anything. Only curious. And nice, somehow. Formal. A bit stuffy perhaps, but she never laughed at him or made him feel stupid and stuff.

 _Tha's cool. Why wouldn't it be cool? Naoto's Naoto after all._

Somehow that changed everything and nothing at all. He still kept thinking way too much about that kid. Knowing that Naoto was a girl had not shifted his attention closer or further away. And try as he might, Kanji was unsure if that was a good thing or not. Might mean he's not gay, tho he had almost started to agree with his shadow in that regard. Might mean he could go both ways, in the right circumstance. Or ... heck, it might not mean a thing.

He closed his eyes and laid his face in both hands, resting his elbows on his knees.

Why did that mix him up all over again? Was it because he had just gotten used to the idea that, just maybe, he might be into dudes after all? Was it because he had not noticed it? Or was it something else entirely?

Whatever it was, Naoto still seemed to have a luxury apartment in his brain and would not move out. If anything, she had just brought in more boxes and ordered the daily paper.

… Naoto's a girl. Did that make things easier or harder on him then? He was scared to chat up the guy, didn't know is if he woulda liked being friends or… or-something. Naoto bein' a girl could make that easier. Nothin' wrong with a guy wanting ta get to know a girl better. Right?

Kanji groaned.

He rubbed his hands slowly back and forth over his face. Maybe he was thinking about things the wrong way. Maybe Naoto being a dude or a chick was not actually what mattered. But what was wrong then? He could hardly think for the dense crowding of thoughts right now. Everything was a blur.

 _Maybe some meditation shit helps._ Kanji took a few slow breaths and simply allowed his mind to wander.

The picture that immediately leaped at him, yet again, was a tiny, yellow-eyed Naoto, curled up, howling in a deeply personal pain. 'Don't leave me.' 'Why am I always left alone?' 'Why are you always leaving me behind?'. And when he saw the shadow in his mind's eye, it reached out to him, red-rimmed eyes begging for him to reach out in return-

He sat up quickly, laying his head back, blinking at stringing eyes and fighting the immediate lump in his throat. _Ah, yea, okay, got it. Stop the movie._

Honestly, that actually was his main issue right now. Naoto had it together, man. Dude was cool as ice. Well, except maybe that one time, where Kanji swore the cop actually made hi- _her_ cry. But aside from that, he could hold his own. How could he have such a fucked up Shadow? She. _Damnit_.

And being alone? That just didn't sound like hi- like Naoto. Didn't want to hang out, like, ever. Even back at the school trip the girls had pretty much forced the kid to come along and most of that time had not exactly looked like h-she, _ugh!_ , was having fun. And Kanji totally did not remember that because he had his eyes glued on the short detective. Or noticed every move she made. He made? Back then he thought Naoto was a guy, did that matter? Should he think of Naoto as a girl back then, too?

And why being left alone? Who was doing any kind of leaving? He mentioned his granddad not being around, but Kanji had simply assumed Naoto had only meant to stay here for one case an' move on anyhow. Come to Inaba, work, and leave Inaba. Never ta come back. Putting that thought into words actually placed that barbed hook right back in Kanji's gut and jerked hard on his insides.

Kanji shifted around, uncomfortable. Uncrossed his legs. Pulled up his knees. Crossed his legs again. He let his gaze wander, looking around his dark room slowly.

Maybe he was overthinking this again. Like, when his own shadow said he was gay, but then later just said "Someone, anyone please accept me!" and it totally wasn't about being gay at all. Well, not only about being gay. Maybe, seeing what happened with Naoto- _GAH!_

Even his own thinking didn't allow him to keep it together. That wasn't what he meant, damnit. More like, when he looked at his shadow, and it didn't actually want to be with guys.. Just thought that being with guys would be easier, because they don't talk as much shit. But then, being gay would mean he just got a different kind of issues dealt.

No. Naoto. What he meant was: Maybe that was a similar deal right now as well. Not that he had fully found out what his own shadow actually meant to say, either. Maybe the guys' shadow didn't mean he wanted to be a guy, not really. Just, that… like, maybe Naoto's Shadow thought being a guy would be easier, just like Kanji's Shadow thought being gay would be the better way. Yeah, that's what he meant. Maybe.

Kanji grunted and put his chin on his fist. He wasn't nearly smart enough to think about what anyone's' shadow actually did or did not mean.

He hadn't talked to the others about their shadows, but his own had been a pushover compared to Naoto's. He decked his faffy ass himself, straight in the kisser. But Naoto... h-her, _her, damnit_ , her shadow was unnerving. One moment it would cry and whimper in a way that make his gut lurch and make him run over and hug it. But then, in the next, the tears were gone and there was that creepy, unfriendly smile. His own shadow had said some pretty weird stuff, but Naoto's was just hurtful.

And she had been in there with it for weeks. Shit.

What would that have done to her? She seemed in really bad shape when they got her out. Like, really bad. She was tryin' ta act all tough, o'course, but he had seen her trying to bullshit her way out of a similar situation a few weeks ago with that cop. Naoto wasn't quite as fickle as that shadow, but not the cool, collected detective, either.

He pulled his legs up again, crossing his arms on top of his knees. Outside his window, Inaba lay quiet. He couldn't even hear anyone drunk out there tonight. Good. Meant he didn't need to bust someone's lip when they woke up ma. He'd get in trouble with his senpai.

His chin sank on his arms slowly. Would get himself in trouble with Naoto, too. She had been oddly rough when they brought her home. Like, not at all like she _should ha'been_.

That actually also was on his mind, come to think of it. Rise had been able to walk out on her own, and he was sure the others didn't have problems, either. They never mentioned at least. Based on how Chie-senpai and Yukiko had reacted, it wasn't what they had expected. But Naoto _tough-cool-on-the-case-junior-detective_ Shirogane, had collapsed several times before he'd had it, picked her up an'-

And ... carried... on his back. Felt her breathe. Her chest to his back and-

Kanji jumped up, rushed to his desk and grabbed some tissue paper to press to his face. _This better be another growth spurt!_ No, having her snuggled to his back didn't matter at all in this; this had nothing to do with the guy... chick... _whatever_ , had nothing to do with suddenly remembering the warmth on his own back, and, _damnit_ , even her weak punches and kicks made him flush all over again now and-

 _Fuckin'_ stop _it, Tatsumi!_

After cussing himself out a while and Take-Mikazuchi helpfully providing annoyed rumbles, Kanji tossed away the stained tissues and grunted.

He sat down at his desk and turned on the lamp. This is stupid. _Fine. If I'm not gonna get any sleep, might as well do something fun._

Kanji picked up his coloured pencils, doodeling onto a rough-drawn mannequin an azure blue trench coat.

Even while drawing, his mind wouldn't stop. How had it affected Naoto to be locked up with that crazed shadow for two weeks? How long would these two weeks have felt? Kid seemed confused, saying they had only talked yesterday or the day before. What had it done to her? Had it perhaps experimented some already?

He stopped his coloured pencil when he realized he was adding a blue cap to the outfit. With a grunt of disgust he pushed himself back from the desk and leaned his arms on his knees, clasping his hands.

What does it mean about the kid? What does a shadow like that _mean_? Are shadows the opposite of shit? Like, Rise does not want to be a stripper, not really, and he sure as hell does not want to hang out in bath houses. But if Naoto's shadow said "Don't leave me alone", does it mean it wants to be left alone? And at the same time not? And what about that mean, creepy shit it pulled. Does it want to be mean but somehow won't be? Sure, Naoto could be pretty fuckin' rude, but maybe that was simply on accident?

How could that shadow on one hand be so … so damned scared and on the other so scary? So hurtful and so hurting? So weak and so damned strong? There's no way to find out what the hell it wants, because it does both things at the same time!

 _I'm not smart enough for this, damnit. How can I even consider helpin' Naoto when I cannot damned well understand 'im? …her. And why the_ hell _was it so hard to remember Naoto's a chick?!_

There was a quiet tap on his door and he slowly lifted his head. He had previously heard the soft groan of wood as his mom slipped out of her room and through the hallway. "Yeah, Ma, I'm up."

The door opened and his mother peered in through the crack. "It is very late, Kanji-chan... Did you remember some homework? Why are you at your desk then?" she added after he shook his head.

"I'unno. Can't sleep, I guess. Too much stuff goin' on."

She pushed the door open a bit father and leaned with her shoulder against the door frame, clasping her hands in front of her. "What stuff? Maybe I can help. I've been around a while, you know."

"Damnit, you ain't old, Ma!"

"I never said I am, Kanji-chan." She smiled her warm, fond smile, and Kanji felt six years old again, as he always did when she smiled like that. _Old bat would just wait like that till he cracked. Not say anything, but not go the hell away, either. But maybe talking to her could help with this._

"There is- You see, in school..." _How do I put this?_ Kanji frowned at the floor. Ma wasn't offering help, so he had to either put up or shut up. He chickened out. "It's nothing."

"Dear, it must be something." He grunted, shaking his head, but she went on, "Because it is two in the morning and you look tired but say you cannot sleep."

He cracked his knuckles, trying to somehow untangle the knots in his stomach and brain at the same time. Putting thoughts into words always felt so much harder than it rightfully should, in his opinion. An' talking to ma was like talking to anyone he really liked. It was _hard_.

"There is a kid in school, in my grade, see? Like, not in my class, but I see him now and again." _Can't tell her I'm thinking about a girl in the middle of the night, she'd get all kinds of wrong ideas._ „I- I found out something... Like, something really shitty happened to him." His fingers retangled, matching his confused thoughts. "Like, only today." He frowned at the floor and stretched out his neck, pulling his head to the left and right, letting the bones creak. "I thought he's so strong and all... you know. Cool?" When he looked up to see if she could follow that, he saw how she nodded, listening closely. He swallowed, and looked back at his hands. "But then- then this thing happened... a-and I saw a totally different side of him."

"And that bothers you?"

"Well... I think so, yeah. I mean, it wasn't really like him, sort of thing."

"We're all different from time to time, Kanji-chan. Those bikers would not believe me if I told them you make a great breakfast." As he flushed, she added fondly, "Well, when you remember, anyway."

"Ma!"

"I'm sorry, Kanji-chan." She chuckled, hiding her smile behind her hand, as she always did. Then her expression turned serious again. "Hm. So that boy was different. Was he mean to you?"

"Na. More, like, mean to himself, I think."

At this, his mother gazed towards the table and smiled, demurely clasping her hands again. "That is so like you."

He looked up at his Ma, frowning. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Your deep empathy for others. You see someone who is not even a dear friend, it seems, be in trouble or not feeling well, and it bothers you deeply enough that you lose sleep over it." She turned her eyes back on him, her smile fading. "Have others noticed it as well? Was it something in the direction of a public outburst?"

"N-no... I mean, maybe... someone could have seen, I guess." Could others have seen that shit if they had watched the Midnight Channel? Damn, he had not even thought about that whole mess yet.

"Well, if no one else noticed how bad that boy is feeling, then you can either help keep it a secret, or you could talk to him. Help him through the hard times he must be having."

Kanji gaped. Talk. To Naoto. Him. _'So, uh, I noticed your Shadow wanted to hold hands with you while drilling holes in your head. How fucked up was that, eh?'_

"I dun' think I can do that. He doesn't know me. I mean, he kinda does. I think we get along. I mean I hope we- argh! Anyhow, it's not like we're friends or nothin'." He looked to the ground, dry-washing his hands. "I'unno even if he would wanna talk..."

After a while of silence, his mother shifted her weight, one hand reaching for the handle of his door. "Well, I am glad you noticed he might need help. And I know you'll help if it feels right. You will do the right thing either way, dear." He nodded mutely. "Now. Try to sleep soon, Kanji-chan."

"Yeah. Night, Ma. An'... Eer, you know. Thanks."

"Goodnight, dear." The door shut and he heard her walk back to her room.

 _Empathy_. He wasn't really sure what his mom meant by that, because he knew he couldn't read minds. But she said he would help once he knew how.

Maybe that was why he was up, really. He wanted to find out how he could help.

But how could anyone help with what he had seen tonight?

Damnit, he needed someone much smarter to talk to. Maybe someone like Yukiko or Yu-senpai.

He turned the lamp off and slouched back into his futon. Hugging his pillow under his chin, he blinked into the darkness. _Hell, Naoto. Why do you keep causing me sleepless nights still? I thought once we get you outa there, things would make more sense. Or at least I'd make more sense._

He let his head sink forward, his chin cradled in the pillow above his crossed arms. Maybe he could start with something simple. Like, offer to hang out at school. Yeah. Just, you know, two guys hanging- No. Not a guy. Naoto was a chick. That would mean even the excuse of 'just two guys hanging out' would not work any longer.

Or maybe it could? Maybe Naoto would prefer if they pretended nothing had happened. That would make hanging out with her easy. Maybe. As long as he didn't stare at her too much.

 _Enough already!_ Naoto was home safe. Yukiko-senpai was with her. He should at least sleep a few hours.

Kanji shifted around on the futon for a while longer, cussing himself out whenever a stray thought tried to probe the subject of the Detective Prince, before sleep finally came.


	18. Chapter 18

_No news! Well, maybe SOME news: I cannot promise that I will torture my poor proof reader over the holidays, so this may be the last publish before a bit of a winter break. IF SO: Happy Holidays, whichever you may have. I'll drink a toast to you all on the 21st. ^^_

 _Also, this chapter directly plugs into The Shortest Distance from A to B; Chapter 13, Interlude 3. If you cannot remember what happened, head on over and read there first, it might help._

* * *

 **September 25th 2011**

Naoto shot up from her bed with a scream. The nightmare had her heart pounding, her cheeks wet with tears, her pillow and bed feeling clammy with moisture.

Rough sobs grabbed her and she let herself fall back, exhausted and helpless.

Echoes of her dreams tentatively reached for her awake consciousness. They presented these images yet again to her… The clone, the _shadow_ , had insisted they all undergo alterations. The teens had rushed in and were at once shackled and confined. Weak and helpless she watched as those who had rushed in to save her were experimented on and-

 _stopitstopityouaresafe_

The thought had sprung out of nowhere. No, not quite out of nowhere. What she had thought was ringing in her ears had come together to almost form words. Also… Since when had she started to think of herself in second person?

 _lookaroundthisishome_

She clenched her eyes shut for a moment taking a deep breath. _No shadow, no neon lights, no noxious fumes…_ and opened her eyes to her darkened room. Her bed. Her home.

And to a soft knock on her bedroom door. "Naoto-kun? Are you alright?"

Yukiko-senpai. Of course. She was not alone. The older girl had chosen to remain behind, watching over her.

"Yu-kiko… senpai?" She sounded awful. Her voice was raspy and she now perceived nearly painfully chapped lips as she tried to speak.

"I have made us some tea. Would you like to join me, or should I bring you some tea to your bed?"

With the first relief of the presence of another human being vanishing, Naoto felt exasperation rise once more. Amagi-san had not yet left. Had she been here all night? What time was it now? And where had she stayed in that time? Had she _watched_ her sleep?

With the immediate panic of the dream being pushed aside, the detective also started to feel her poor physical condition report back in. The headache was crushing, just about every muscle in her body complained about dull aches and she felt unable to even sit up a second time.

"Naoto?" The other teen's voice was quieter now, or it seemed to be.

Going in a vicious circle, the weakness of her body summoned the recent images of her nightmare back. The experiments. Drills, scalpels, agonized moans and screams. And it was her face, beset with golden eyes, gleefully executing-

"Yuk-Yuki-..." Focus was fleeting. An inexplicable panic tried to close her throat; tried to choke her here and now. Naoto felt a shiver grab her, hard enough to shake her alongside with the bed she was trapped in. "Y-Yuk... _senpai!_ " That last word was an agonized, high-pitched plea. She had up until now only used the term in an almost mocking fashion. How could mere teenagers be her better? But right now, she needed to grasp at the authority of a person who claimed she knew what was happening.

The door flew open and Yukiko Amagi rushed in, her face a mixture of fear and worry.

The younger girl tried to move, wanting to sit up, but the shivers would not let her even lift an arm. She'd have settled for any type of control right then, but nothing came. All she could do was gaze up with panicked, tear-filled eyes at her senpai, whom she hardly knew, bearing down on her.

Her bed dipped as she sat beside her, her hands trying to gently hold her arms, her shoulders, moving back and forth over her writhing body. "Shhh, it's okay, Naoto, we all went through this..." Yukiko pressed her lips together, trailing off, then tried to give the shivering girl an encouraging smile. "Nearly all of us, anyhow. Oh dear. Shhh... shhh..." Slowly the older girl slid her arms under and around Naoto's body and pulled her up; pulled her in to a tight embrace.

Naoto Shirogane, Junior Detective, the Detective Prince of the proud line of Shirogane, felt a strong, comforting hug envelop her. Her shivers only grew worse at the physical touch, distressed at the combined feelings of comfort and constraint.

"Y-Yuk-.. _sen_ -"

"I know. I am here. I am not going anywhere." The strong, calm presence of the girl felt like an anchor in the chaos that tried to sweep her up. She had experienced Yukiko Amagi in such a capable and contrasting light this night.

And then there was a sound she thought she was incapable of making. Naoto _mewled_ out loud. The sound was the compressed wail of a frightened child and had nothing to do with either a young woman, or a young man. Loud, choking sobs burst from her; the shakes trying to shift her out of the arms which held her. Desperate hands clutched at the red cardigan in front of her, and all she wanted, all she could think of, was trying to shrink in on herself and be held forever.

"It-It… tried to hurt…! A-And...!" Between sobs and shakes, Naoto could not even string two sentences together. Worse, she could not even make herself believe she cared. Her pride was discarded and pure, raw fear held on to her just as tightly as the older girl.

She could not hear the sigh, but felt it in the chest of the girl holding her, felt it in the breath brushing over her cheek. Close to her ear, she heard her senpai murmur to her. "There we are... yes... yes, Naoto-kun... Let go. Let it go, Naoto-kun. It will be okay. The nightmares will fade. You will be alright, I promise..."

Naoto's arms jerked away. Then returned; clamped around Amagi's waist like vices. "It-It t-tried to hu-hurt you! I-I could not-! T-Tried to stop it... buh-but-! "

Her senpai shifted closer to her, holding her shaking frame tightly. One arm had remained free, and she used it to stroke short, wild tufts of cobalt hair. "It did not hurt us. _You_ did not hurt us. Everyone's alright... shhh... everyone is all right..."

 _...everyoneisalright…_

Naoto sobbed and shivered, holding on to her older girl as if for dear life. For how long, she had no recollection. She only realized it was a while once she noticed how tired her arms felt when she finally released her death-grip slowly.

Yukiko also let go, leaning back a bit, stroking Naoto's hair carefully from her face and behind her ears. In turn, the younger girl saw the red streaks down her _senpai's_ face; noticed the reddened eyes. _She, too, had been crying. Crying with me_. Struggling to fill her lungs with enough air, she finally managed to thank her, punctuated by hiccups.

"Like I said, we have been through the same. I feel bad for Yosuke-kun and Chie-chan. They had no help. And both won't tell me if they had nightmares..."

Naoto's deep sobs had stirred her stomach up yet again. She felt the unease of nausea rise up.

Amagi stopped herself, looked at Naoto, tilted her head, and got up from the bed, making room. "Go."

Naoto bolted past her to the bathroom once more, her empty stomach heaving painfully. She still did not understand what was happening to her. Was she poisoned? Should she perhaps find professional help after all?

A cup was pushed into her field of vision. "Water will help, trust me."

Well, at least that took care of the _dry_ heaving.

When she had returned to her bed with the help of Yukiko-senpai, Naoto realized a few more things about her situation. She was not wearing her binder. She was in pyjamas, but wearing boxer-briefs. At some point she had changed her attire - or had been changed. She silently send a prayer to the heavens above that it had been the former.

Her senpai vanished briefly and reappeared at her side with a new cup in hand. "Here, have some tea. You need to drink. I thinned it down a bit, we don't want to upset your stomach already again."

She hovered over Naoto, one hand near her as if she expected her to drop the cup. Which she almost did, after draining it fully.

"Another?"

She shook her head.

"Okay. Sleep some more. Chie is covering for us at school, so I can stay a while longer."

"... _hn_ pai?"

"Yes, Naoto-kun?"

But Naoto had not managed to keep awake long enough to continue her thought or put the questions on her mind into words before she drifted off again.

* * *

Light fell through the open door to her bedroom when Naoto woke up again.

A mild headache lingered behind her eyes; the dull throb reminding her she was likely dehydrated.

The detective gingerly sat up, crossing her legs. Naoto leaned forward, rubbing at dry eyes with a small sigh.

She heard soft footsteps come to a halt by the door frame. "How are you feeling?"

 _Amagi-senpai. She was still here then._

"Worn. But much better. I thank you for your concern for me. It really was not necessary."

She heard the older girl sigh and enter the room. She placed something on her bedside table and handed her a moist, warm cloth.

The young detective took it gingerly, but giving her a confused look.

"You...," Amagi folded her hands in front of herself and lowered her eyes; not meeting her kōhai's gaze. "You must have had more nightmares. You cried a fair bit." As Naoto spluttered, trying to formulate some form of protest, Amagi turned and left them room. "The moist heat will help a bit with the … you know, how your eyes feel right now."

Naoto clenched a fist around the washcloth, stopping the moment she noticed she was wringing it out into her comforter by doing so. No one should ever see her like this. No one had seen her cry in … in years. Possibly? _Had Tatsumi-san seen me cry that night?_ If he had, he would not tell anyone. He wouldn't. He simply was not the type to … well, not the type to seek out communication for one. Would Amagi-san tell anyone?

 _Stop being childish! At least you can accept the provided help and show some manners, Shirogane._

"Thank you..." she muttered and unfolded the cloth, gently rubbing her eyes and cheeks. Amagi-san was correct; the dryness eased at once and she felt a mild relief from the itchiness the high amount of saline had caused. After enjoying the ease which the vanishing irritation brought she turned to pick up the cup. Warm, not hot, tea. She sipped carefully and found it very watery. Possibly not a bad thing, though. She felt queasy as she drank, adding caffeine to irritate her stomach was possibly an unhealthy notion.

Naoto got up, bringing the cup and cloth with her. Amagi sat on the couch, her feet pulled up and tucked under; a slim volume of Arthur Conan Doyle in her hands. As Naoto walked over to join her, she looked up in surprise. "Naoto-kun? Did you need anything?"

"Yes. I needed to get up. My back... I-I am starting to feel sore, just lying down." She lowered her gaze and shifted uncomfortably. Just how long has she been sleeping?

Amagi nodded and patted the couch beside her, getting up. "Well, have a seat here at least. Let me bring some more tea. You must be so thirsty."

The younger girl nodded and quietly replied, "Yes, I do seem quite dehydrated. Actually, that would also explain the continuous headache I've been trying to content with. I may actually be in need of some acetylsalicylic acid."

From the kitchen she heard Amagi raise her voice to reply. "Sorry, you need some what?"

"The brand name commonly known is Aspirin. It is a blood thinner and should help with a dehydration-induced headache the best." Naoto looked down at the couch. She wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to sit down with her senpai. In truth, as she had pondered previously, she hardly knew these teens. And yet, this was her home. She should be able to make herself comfortable in her own four walls.

"Ah, okay, where do you keep it? Do you have a medicine cabinet in the bathroom?"

"No, well, yes, I do, but I do not keep medicinal material there. You'll find a package in the second cupboard on your left in the kitchen."

Amagi turned to look over her shoulder at her through the kitchen door. "You keep it in here? A morning ritual of yours?"

Naoto pressed her lips into a narrow line. "It is not a common breakfast item in my home if you are implying that."

She sat down on one of the far ends and pulled a throw over her legs. By the sunlight shining in from outside it was well past noon, the rays reaching inside slowly turning golden.

Why was Amagi still here? She had remained, not just through the night, but apparently most of the day and appeared to have been awake in between as well.

Naoto frowned at the low table in front of her. She wanted to be alone. She needed to figure things out. She needed to start gathering evidence, prepare interviews, and ask these teens questions. She needed to learn more about what happened to her and she needed to _stop yawning_.

Amagi-san returned, kneeling in a fluent motion beside the couch as she offered Naoto a tray to pick up her cup. Naoto hid another yawn behind a fist and picked up the offered tea and the tablet beside it.

"You look a little better. Do you think you can stomach any food yet?"

With a hard swallow she fought the lurch which her stomach gave her at the mention of food. "No, I think I will be quite pleased with just tea for now."

Amagi settled on her knees, placing the tray under the small coffee table and picked up her own cup. She sipped her own tea in silence and, unlike most of the other teens, she seemed perfectly happy to just remain there, kneeling, focussed on her tea. No questions asked, no conversation pushed forward. There was no uncomfortable edge to the silence, and she did not seem to feel the need to fill it.

Inside the mind of the Detective Prince, no such tranquillity showed itself.

She felt immensely torn between trying to find a means of expelling her _senpai_ from her home; putting her to the question about everything she could tell her of what happened, her condition and what they knew... and asking her to sit closer. The tiny, vulnerable voice inside of her whispered reminders of the embrace earlier today and how much she had needed it, while the mature and logical side of her gruffly accepted that while it _had_ been pleasant, such physical contact was no longer needed.

She was fine. She did not need a nursemaid.

That thought still echoed in her head while Amagi carefully pulled the empty cup from her limp hand and pulled the throw blanket over her as she was drifting off to sleep once more.

* * *

She was curled up on one side, leaning over the edge of the couches' armrest when she awoke. Orange-red light filtered into her living room from the living room window, while white-yellow light shone in from the kitchen.

Just as she noticed, she heard a voice from within. A female? "Ooo-ho-ho man, I'm starved. I forgot to eat lunch, I was so worried!" She heard hands clapped together, a polite prayer uttered and then quiet for a little while.

"Thank you for bringing us food, Chie-chan. I admit, I had forgotten to eat myself." Some rustling. Then, after a moment, "Oh, no, what is all this? I cannot possibly eat that much food, Chie!"

The voice of Satonaka picked up again. "I talked Aika-chan into letting me buy mega beef bowls! I still wanna try to find the secret of beating it, and I wouldn't be surprised if Naoto-chan would eat a whole one after being trapped for two- "

A hushing sound. "Don't! She doesn't yet know. "

"What? You mean that she-" Another urgent hiss. "Why? You've not told her?"

"I was… well, it was a busy night. There was no time to bring it up."

Naoto shifted, turning her head to try and see more. Her head no longer hurt, but it felt stuffed with cotton. Every thought felt ponderous and slow. Moving was a chore as well. Each and every muscle either hurt as if under unseen strain or quivered as if trying to even make her sit upright was a herculean effort.

"Ohmp? Wha? Wha'ppmd?"

" _Ngh_. Chie-chan, please, swallow your food…"

An audible gulp. Then, "Oh, sorry, Yuki. I meant why, what happened?"

There was no reply for a short while, a soft clap, a murmur, then, "Naoto-kun seems to-"

"Shouldn't we say Naoto-chan now?"

Naoto winced.

"I am not sure. She seems to prefer a slightly more formal address and I am used to Naoto-kun anyway. She has not asked me to change that, so for now, I'm not." A brief pause. "As I was saying, Naoto-kun suffers from rather bad nightmares. Sometimes she doesn't even wake up when I walk over to her and try to nudge her awake, but she usually settled down after, so I hope I can at least stop her dreams."

"Oh man, that's no good. Did she say anything?"

There was tense silence for a little while. Naoto toyed with the idea of getting up, but she had a feeling that would cut any further conversation quite short. A conversation the Detective Prince was rather interested in. She shifted a little, keeping her eyes closed.

Amagi spoke up again. "Not really. She woke up once, early this morning. She actually woke me with a scream. When I checked on her, she was… It… Hm. I don't know how to say it."

 _Lamentable? Paltry? Wretched? Pathetic?_ Naoto started to bitterly provide one option after the next in her mind.

"It was pretty heart-breaking. She … No. She didn't say much. Let's leave it at that."

The following silence was filled by the sounds of two girls standing in her kitchen, silently eating.

The junior detective felt an immeasurable amount of gratitude for Amagi-senpai. She could have said what she saw. Could have given all the details. And she chose not to, chose to simply keep her counsel on the matter, for the most part.

She decided to officially awaken.

As she sat up and moved the throw aside, she saw Satonaka-senpai lean backwards, peering around the corner of the door frame. "Oh, hey Naoto-kun! Slept okay?"

"If by that you mean if I am rested, I feel like more sleep will not actually bring the desired effect."

Her _senpais'_ eyes went glassy a moment, then she shrugged and held up a package of take-out food. "Hungry? I brought dinner!"

"That is very considerate of you, Satonaka-senpai, but-"

"Oh come, call me Chie! No need to be all formal with me." The smile she gave Naoto was easy, free, and _careless_ in the sense that there was no care connected to it.

Naoto felt her own lips twitch in sympathy, but she contented with shaking her head. "I fear I am not yet able to consume much food. But the thought is indeed appreciated."

"Aw, I'm sorry. Man, I didn't think it would be this bad, even after seeing you last night."

Naoto got up slowly, forcing her muscles to cease trembling and carry her into the kitchen. Again her upbringing and echoes of Yakushiji-san reminded her of her manners. "You should eat in the living room, senpai."

Amagi-san spoke up after the girls exchanged glances. "We didn't want to bother you, so we-"

"Please. I insist. You… are my guests after all. Correct?"

"Sure!" Satonaka gathered up her food and walked past Naoto into the living room without a moments hesitation.

"There is more tea, too, if you'd like, Naoto-kun," Amagi said, as she walked to sit by the low table in the living room.

The younger girl nodded dumbly, looking around her small kitchen.

She picked up the third take-out box and opened it. A generous portion of _gyūdon_ , extra sauce and an egg. It was certainly acceptable, but she only felt slight queasiness at the sight of the food. Putting it into the fridge for later, she decided instead to simply pick up a cup of tea and return to the living room.

The other two girls sat closely together, chatting quietly. She took a seat on the couch to hear Amagi say, "…so if you could stay here tonight, I am sure we can find someone to take the days after that."

Naoto stopped, turning to face them. _Enough_.

"While I do certainly appreciate your concern, and, Amagi-san, am gratified that you would take time to look after me, I would need to point out that you have your own homes to return to."

"Sure. So?" Satonaka punctuated that question with another mouth full of food.

"I mean to say, with gratitude, that you need not concern yourselves any longer. I am, as you can see for yourselves, able to-"

"Oh, Naoto-kun." Satonaka grinned at her. "It's kinda annoying how you try to talk us out of being your friends. But also real cute!"

 _'Friends_?'

 _friends_

The word carried no immediate meaning to her. Were they being friends by hanging out with her? She wasn't sure that would be what friendship should be. Giving up on the comfort of home, giving up on the comforts of your own bed. And what for?

There must be another reason for them being here, but whichever it was, she felt unsure if she could glean it. She still felt bone-tired and it rapidly felt like simply remaining upright was a gamble.

"I see," she said while not actually understanding. A white lie to let her continue this fight later.

Naoto slipped onto the couch and slowly pulled the throw back over her legs. Her eyes wandered to her senpai as they chatted and slowly unfocussed.

While the friends shared their meal, she dozed off again.

* * *

She struggled out of a fitful dream when someone shook her by the shoulder. Spluttering incoherently, she opened her eyes to the slightly concerned face of Satonaka.

"Hey… Naoto-kun? Come on, you cannot be comfortable like that."

She struggled up, or, well attempted to. She must have slipped off the arm rest and curled up. _Just how much more embarrassing can this day become before it is finally over?_

"Chie's right, Naoto-kun. Why don't you go back to your bed? I know you're tired. I was tired and I was… I was not as long in the TV world as you were."

The pause was noticeable, she had meant to say something else. But try as she might, her thoughts would not fully align. She noticed dimly that she had not gotten the answer that Amagi first meant to give, but even trying to form the question to prompt her once more would not form in her mind.

What was even more distressing, other things would not align, either. She struggled to push herself into a seated position, but her body fought back. Tiredness and exhaustion collapsed back over her, her eyes slowly slid shut.

"Come, Naoto-kun, you heard her. You'll get all stiff and achy if you keep falling asleep on the couch."

Naoto slowly opened her eyes and stared at the hand in front of her without comprehension. Someone was with her. That meant someone was in her apartment. Unacceptable. She needed no assistance. "Please leave."

"Yeah, no, we talked it over, and you're not getting your way this time. Besides, Yu would kill me. Well, possibly just yell at me. Kanji would kill me." Satonaka. That was Satonaka-san. "So, please, up and into your own bed. I heard you got a real fancy one, all western style!"

Something tried to pluck at her thoughts. Kanji? "Why should Tatsumi-san… " Her thought derailed, tiredness being the only truth in her world at this time. Her eyes fluttered shut on their own.

She heard a giggle and knew it to be Amagi. Satonaka was the one who once more replied. "Yeah, you'll figure it out, Detective Prince. Maybe even before he does."

"You are mocking me." Her speech slurred. She knew it. She also knew she could not change it. "As for… your demands. I-I'd be happy- -comply." She pinched her eyes shut tightly and snuggled deeper into the blanket. "Can't."

"Mhm, what was that, Naoto-kun?"

"I… find myself… immobile."

She expected a sigh. Or a grunt. Or some more yelling. Something.

She did not expect being scooped up, blanket and all. "Whoa, Naoto-kun, you weigh nothing!" Satonaka must have picked her up. She giggled, holding her.

Indignation tried to spark. But when she spoke, it was quiet. "Put me down."

"Yeah, she's not given me any trouble, either." Amagi again. "Aside from her climbing out of bed each time I put her in."

Anger tried to push past indignation. "Please… don't like… picking up…"

"But you need your bed. Which is right down this hallway."

Anger and indignation fell short as exhaustion got in first. Pressing out a small feeble sob of frustration and impotent anger, Naoto tried to punch Satonaka, who held her safe and close and made moving impossible. As much as she hated being manhandled like this, a deeper part of her relaxed at the touch and let her fall asleep before she was even tucked in.

* * *

 _Naoto knelt on the floor… no, on the ground. She was outside. She knelt, curled up on the sidewalk at the intersection of the shopping district. She tried to not be seen, and making herself a smaller target seemed logical at first._

 _The miscalculation was obvious the moment she realized she attracted unwanted attention in this pose. A hand came to rest on her shoulder and she heard the concerned voices of Amagi and Satonaka. While she knew it was them, and also was certain their voices were concerned, she could not make out their faces or voices._

 _Not that it mattered much. They needed to leave. She needed to work, she needed to function on her own, as she always had. They were in her way. They were putting up barriers she could not overcome on her own. "Go away. Just… just go! Everyone goes sooner or later, just do it now!"_

 _They backed off, but didn't go away._

stopit

 _She scrambled to her feet, backing away from the intruding stares. The feeling left by the hand on her shoulder reverberated with comfort and agitation. She whirled around, turned again and quick-marched herself away, immediately at the shore of the Samegawa River. She had to reach the bus stop, but somehow got lost and now was here. Right now, that was the way out. The bus stop, then home, then shut the door on them._

 _Another miscalculation. Kujikawa, Hanamura and that slim blonde boy, Teddie, were lined up by the bank. They gave her the same concerned looks, somehow, without having clear faces, and approached her. She tried to run faster, but her legs felt weak. She couldn't run any further. She needed to run, but she could not. "Go. Just go. Why won't you_ leave _?" She turned around sharply, her white-lined blue coat whipping with the motion. She grabbed her collar, forcing it to stay up, willing it to be the barrier she had put between herself and the world years ago._

 _She had to keep moving. She needed to shake them off. Willing her legs to work, she struggled back up and stumbled into the shipping bay right behind Junes; knowing they would try to still follow. Somehow they were not tired, and they were catching up, even though they simply walked slowly._

stoprunning

 _Yu Narukami blocked her way. Stoic, tall, calm. The very image of the alpha male of the group; of their school even. He looked concerned and slightly disappointed. She stopped, falling to her knees before him. She craned her head, trying to look up at him._

 _"Naoto. Why are you running from us?"_

 _"You'll leave. I cannot depend on you being there for the long game."_

 _"We came for you. Why would we leave now?"_

 _"I am just a sideshow attraction to you and your ilk. You… you'll only…" She trailed off, lifting her hands to hide her grief-stricken face. Long, oversized white sleeves came along with her raised arm. She choked back a sob, feeling tears slowly soak into the cloth._

 _"Let us help you."_

 _"No."_

 _"Let me closer to you."_

 _"N-No… no, you'll only hurt me."_

 _"We fought for you. Naoto!"_

 _Her hands snapped down and she glared up. The teens had surrounded her. Their faces no longer showed concern. They glared._

 _Narukami posed before her, a hand reaching for her. Not the hand to help a friend to her feet. The hand a master gives a fallen servant. "Come, Naoto!"_

 _"NO!" She jumped to her feet and slapped him. Hard. Right across the face. He just stared._

 _She whirled and faced Hanamura. Another slap._

 _Kujikawa. Slap._

 _Satonaka and Amagi. Two more slaps._

 _"JUST LEAVE!"_

 _Narukami watched her, looked at the tea cup in his hands, and nodded. "The Detective Prince has spoken. He wishes to be left alone."_

 _They turned and left, dissolving as they went, and Naoto knew at once they would never return._

nononononono

 _"I… I am…" She sank back to her knees._ I am sorry. I do not know how to deal with this. I do not know what to do. I only know being alone.

 _Hard, loud sobs then tore from her throat. She wasn't sure where she was, it was dark, but somehow light was out. A fireplace. Of course. She was at the estate. The huge, looming, mostly-cold Shirogane estate. And no one would be here besides her. She would be trapped here, alone, forever._

 _She crouched and pulled the huge white lab coat over herself, seeking to shelter from the world, forever, if needed. She could do it on her own._

 _Possibly._

 _Hopefully._

 _…_ maybe _._

 _The crying grew more frantic. She buried her face in her hands once more, soaking the sleeves with her grief._

 _And then another pair of hands took her wrists and pulled them forward gently, revealing her hurt to the watchers. She ducked her head down, not wanting to look at the intruder._

 _"Tch. You're too damn reckless. Keep telling people t'leave an' they will, see?" A moment of silence followed. It was a new voice, but a deeply familiar one at the same time. One she has heard frequently. "Damnit, Naoto. Please stop crying. Here. Lemme help ya." A voice that sounded different now. Direct. Confident. Overbearingly warm. Comforting._

 _Hands tried to push her huge sleeves back and her hands desperately groped, clutching at the hands freeing hers. She held on tightly, sobbing hard. And then flinched away._

 _"Y-You'll leave, t-too." She could barely speak. Barely breathe. When she lifted her head finally, she saw Kanji Tatsumi kneeling beside her, holding her by her wrists. "Everyone will l-leave me."_

 _"So far, I've always come after ya. No matter how hard you push me." Strong arms scooped her up and held her close. "It's okay, Naoto. 'm here, girl."_

* * *

"Oh man… Shh… It's okay, Naoto. I'm here. I'm right here, girl."

The young detective awoke with a start. She was tied up and someone tried to suffocate her. She struggled frantically, but the ropes holding her down were too tight!

 _nocheckagain_

Naoto tried to shove her panic aside. She needed a clearer picture to know how to react to this attack. But it turned out it wasn't one.

 _I'm in my bed. Wrapped in blankets. Someone is holding me._

 _And I am crying bitterly. Wonderful._

Through her hard sobs, she instinctively attempted to reach for the person holding her, but immediately flinched back as the remnant of a memory showed her the dream image of Tatsumi-san trying to scoop her in his arms, thought the image faded while she was trying to remember it. _Must not get complacent!_ She struggled hard to push away whomever was trying to help her.

"Cut it out, Naoto-kun. You're not feeling well, and the way you held my hand just a moment ago shows it."

Satonaka. She was being held closely in the lap of Chie Satonaka, crying. When would this trial end for her?

"Y-You need to l-leave!"

"Why, Naoto-kun?"

"Eh-Everyone does… Mustn't get kuh-comfortable!" That sob shook her hard enough that Satonaka adjusted her grip.

"Man, Yukiko wasn't kidding," the girl mumbled. Then continued normally, "Naoto-kun, what happened? Was it a nightmare? You were quiet and then, bam!"

"I kuh-cannot-" The girl shuddered once more.

"Remember?"

A hard nod. She only felt being held closely for a while. And then the grip shifted and the hold turned into a rocking motion.

"It was only a dream." The older girl spoke to her softly, carefully. "Whatever it was, it was a dream. I know it frightened you. My own dreams did, too, after… _that_. But you're not facing this alone."

"Buh-but I-"

"You. Are. Not. Alone."

Naoto gave in. The rocking was too soothing, the voice speaking to her too gentle. And maybe, just maybe, she could allow herself to not be alone. At least for a little while. Just until she felt better.

"Lemme help you."

Naoto heard that phrase and something rang with recognition for a brief moment. Then faltered and slipped away again.

"Let us help you."

The slow rocking continued, even after Naoto had drifted off to sleep again.


	19. Chapter 19

_Back from the holiday break, and I hope everyone is doing wonderfully well. :)_

 _Over9000 - Glad I managed to surprise you a bit. I was actually grinning when I read your review for two. I ALSO grinned when I read your review for three. ;)_

 _Catherine - Sorry you had to wait! We're back on track now._

 _RageCaje - Let's rebuild our detective back to her... mostly normal self, eh?_

* * *

 **September 26th, 2011**

Naoto took the bowl from Chie with a small nod. "Thank you, Satonaka-senpai."

"You know, I really wish you'd call me Chie." The upperclassman planted her fists on both hips and gave the younger girl a bright smile. "I'm not even that much older than you, I think. And out of the two of us, I know who the smarter person is, and it isn't me!"

She turned and headed back into the kitchen. Naoto watched her leave, then frowned at her food. Satonaka-senpai was correct, she needed to eat, even though her stomach still weakly protested against the idea. Her reasoning 'You just feel sick because you're hungry' did not account for the repeated emptying of her stomach the previous night and morning, but she could not argue that remaining without food could only add to her fatigue. _At least I am properly dressed today. What must Amagi-senpai think of me, being around the apartment all day in just my sleepwear?_

Her gaze fell back on the food. Well, it did smell good.

She took the chopsticks between her hands, closed her eyes to say thanks and started to pick through the rather plentiful amount of beef and roasted onion to get to the rice. Gingerly picking at it, she listlessly munched, adding a small strip of beef or onion for flavor here and there.

All the while she was being chattered at. Satonaka-senpai seemed determined that they are friends due to the course of happenings. She learned about the other members of the group, mostly about Amagi-san and Hanamura-san. She learned of her senpai's private enjoyment of physical fitness. She learned of a pet dog and how she would love him - apparently. She learned about the latest school gossip and about the struggles their sports teams faced due to lack of members.

It was a rather one-sided stream of questionable information, as Naoto could not think of anything to contribute on any of the topics herself.

She looked up when she noticed an ebb in the relentless input and looked up. Satonaka-san stood before her shelves, reading the jackets and book ends. "Do you enjoy reading, Satonaka-san?"

"Chie. _Chie_. And, yeah, but, like, more manga and stuff." She picked up something from the mystery section of her shelf and turned the volume over and over in her hand. "I don't have much time to read, so I like if part of the story is already an image, so I don't need to buckle down and think too much, I guess?"

Naoto placed her chopsticks on the rim of her bowl and tucked her legs up beside her. She gave what the girl said some thought. And she had to admit there was a certain logic to it. Reading a book and reading a manga were different, one was absolutely faster. "So your various hobbies keep you too busy to read?"

The other girl slipped the book back and picked up a much thicker volume from her scientific section. "Very, hah! I run at least two hours each day, and not just boring old in-a-circle stuff. You should see me parkour sometime!"

"Parcours?" Naoto pronounced the word in the intended French way, but it did not open any new meaning to her.

"Yeah, where you, you know- Hrm. Have you never heard of city-running? You use the surroundings as obstacles or as assistance to leap somewhere higher?" Her senpai seemed to not notice how she suddenly balanced on the balls of her feet, gently side stepping and nearly hopping left to right.

"That sounds like quite rigorous exercise. It very much explains your build, too."

The hopping stopped and Satonaka turned around slowly, looking quite blank. "My what?"

Naoto shrugged and pointed at her senpai with an open hand. "Your build. Your general physique and athletic statue." The blank look shifted oddly, into mild annoyance, then into surprise and ended up being near a proud gloat. "I can see your hard work. I doubt any of the others in your team could keep up with you. Hanamura-san seems vaguely capable, perhaps, but he would not appear to hold your stamina."

"HAH!" Now she really skipped side-to-side on the spot, her hands raised. "Yosuke can barely dodge what I dish out, he can't keep up with me. Now Kanji, he can."

"Tatsumi-kun?"

"Yeah. He actually sometimes comes out running with me. He's a bit of a lug, but when he gets going, he's not stopping. He's not as light on his feet, but he can run up walls higher than I can, he can do impressive pulls when jumping over tall fences and he usually can keep going longer."

The detective turned her head and stared straight ahead, conjuring up a picture of Kanji Tatsumi. From what she had seen throughout the summer, his upper body strength must be very impressive. His chest and shoulders seemed very well toned and she could easily picture the work and effort he could put forward during physical activities. Pulling his whole body up and over an obstacle was certainly not something that would slow him down much. And his overall frame spoke of well-trained muscle. If he kept his breathing steady, he would have no problem keeping his body well oxygenated.

Chie had stepped in front of her with a sly grin. "Thinking of something?"

"Mhm?" Naoto's eyes focused and she looked up at the girl before her. "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought for a moment."

"Heh, I bet."

"I beg pardon?"

"Well, you're blushing. And Yosuke said when he caught you two in the bathroom back at Escapade, you had made Kanji kneel down for you and-"

The younger girl made a sharp dismissive gesture with her hand. "He was _injured_ , Satonaka-san. Whatever fabrication Hanamura-san made from that, I cannot be held accountable for. I needed to reach a cut on his head and he simply is too tall to do that while he is standing. Unlike any of you, who were supposed to be his compatriots, I actually felt the need to ensure one of my peers was not suffering any possibly severe injuries."

Chie had dropped her crossed arms as Naoto spoke and gave her a surprised look. "Uh, sorry, I was just teasing. And you know what? You're right, I shouldn't have, sorry. Besides, it's Yosuke. He likes to make stories where none are. And back then we thought you were a guy, too, so he just went with it."

"My gender held no bearing at all on my urgent need to care for an injured classmate," Naoto muttered, gazing towards the hands in her lap. "I am not interested in the homophobic tendencies of Yosuke Hanamura."

"Eh, possibly the smart thing to do." The girl looked embarrassed for a moment, then peered at their tea cups. "Hey, you're out of tea again! I told you to let me know, Yukiko will have my hide if I can't get enough liquids into you!"

The younger girl looked up as Chie grabbed her cup and vanished back into the kitchen. How far had _that_ rumor spread? A homo-erotic interest added to the rest of the ever-growing lore about the Detective Prince. Would it be a problem? Harm her? Help her? It could provide relief from the girls trying to 'get with her' and perhaps cause a bit of an ebb from the unwanted attentions of letters and gifts pushed at her.

She also realized that she had been incommunicado for at least three days now. She could consider reaching out to Grampa and see if he had time to reply to her latest email yet.

A knock at the front door pulled her from her thoughts. Before she could even untangle her legs, Satonaka skipped out of the kitchen and ran across to the door. "Got it, got it, stay comfy!"

She head the girl stop at the door, hesitate (possibly looking through the door spy) and make a pleased sound before she opened. "Hey Yu, Rise!" A pause. "Oh, hey Yosuke."

 _Speak of the devil. More visitors._ Naoto sighed. The better she felt, the less it seemed tolerable to have others intrude on her home. And now she wasn't even the one welcoming them in any longer.

"How is she today?"

Naoto leaned forward a bit. She was right here, only meters away, and her senpai causally spoke as if that was no concern of theirs. She could not wait to be back on her own two feet and in proper control of her home. She would start closing doors in their faces.

"Yeah, she's... well." There was movement, then the conversation continued a bit muffled. "Yuki told you, I think, but she's in really bad shape. I mean, Yuki and Rise were nowhere near as exhausted. And ... Hm. Na, she can tell you if she wants, that's not my place."

The detective lifted her head, raising her eyebrows. First Amagi, now Satonaka kept her more embarrassing moments a secret. She had underestimated the girls in that regard.

"Anyways," the other girl continued, possibly from behind the door, "I'm feeding her and trying to get her to drink more, like Yuki asked me. But she's not been much in terms of company, let me tell ya..."

Naoto flinched and clenched her jaw.

"Aw, Chie-senpai, that's mean! She's very private, you _know_ that! Hey, you guys can keep on chatting, I wanna see her!" That sounded absolutely like the bubbly idol.

Who skipped in moments later. "Naoto-kun! How are you doing? Been missing your grumpy face around school!"

"Kujikawa-san," Naoto added drily as a greeting.

The girl plopped herself down in front of the couch and right in front of Naoto. With a radiant, infectious smile, she let her eyes wander over the detective's face for a short while before speaking up. "You know, you really look a lot better, but you do look a bit worn down. Maybe we should get you something healthy. Apples are good when you're ill!"

"I assure you, Kujika-"

"Rise!"

"-wa-san... pardon?"

"Rise! We're pretty much in the same home room, with as many courses as our classes share. You _know_ me, silly. We're not strangers!"

Naoto's mouth opened and closed a few times without bringing out any sound. It would not do! It would not do starting to be on a first name basis with these teens before they even knew one another properly.

 _...calledhimkanji..._

And whatever these random thoughts were, that came cloaked in a high-pitched chirp, they could cut it right out, too! Besides. She had previously only addressed him as Kanji-san to ensure he would understand there was no true ill will between them.

"Naoto-kun?"

"I thank you for the offer, but at this time, I believe we should have some professional behaviour set up between one another. I am new to your social network. It would be presumptuous of me."

Satonaka and Narukami entered the living room at that point. The girl was a few steps behind the young man and it seemed like she had a light flush to her cheeks. Naoto _tsked_ to herself. Maybe he had called her out on something and she had Kujikawa let her be distracted. Whatever it was, her chance was past.

With them also walked in another young man. Hanamura's shaggy auburn hair, looking freshly tussled as always, fell past his ears even though he seemed to try and force it back with his hands right now.

"Yo, Naoto-kun!"

"Narukami-senpai, Hanamura-senpai. Welcome." That should suffice. They had invited themselves, they could not truthfully expect her to go out of her way for them. Some minimal politeness might also bring across that they could not make themselves truly at home here.

Where Hanamura immediately wandered around, rudely inspecting her living space, Narukami stepped behind Kujikawa and stopped. She looked back with a giggle, leaning against him. "You look exhausted, Naoto. I heard you have some problems sleeping?" He stopped, giving her an opening to reply.

Naoto looked into his eyes a moment, then ducked away. The shadow of one very rough nightmare welled up, making him glower at her, a demanding hand outstretched...

He continued when she did not speak up. "I know some of the others had problems as well after awakening their Persona."

 _Brief replies. Do not make them welcome._ She settled for a nod. Her eyes wandered to the other boy, who just fished one of her books out of the shelf.

"I also understand you'd rather have us not take care of you."

Another nod, more distinct, still watching Hanamura. And wincing when he stuffed the book back, but in the wrong place.

"I see. You do realize why we cannot do that?" He hunched down on his heels, holding on to Kujikawa's shoulders. She giggled. Naoto gave her a confused and slightly irritated glance. Wasn't she being friendly with Tatsumi-kun...? Narukami had continued speaking and she refocused, trying to keep up. "...to your own devices. We're the only ones who will understand. No police officer, no doctor, no parent can help in this. All we have is each other." He gave the idol's shoulder a squeeze and she happily nodded to Naoto; who in turn watched the interaction with interest. _They are trying to play me. Is this going to be good-cop-bad-cop_?

"He's right, you know," Kujikawa added, as if on cue. "Seriously, can you think of anyone besides us who'd believe you? What would you tell them when they ask you why you were gone or why you're feeling ill? That you were gone for two weeks, stuck in a TV at Jun-"

Naoto shot to her feet. " _What_?"

She heard Satonaka groan "Oh geez, Rise..."; saw Narukami narrow his eyes - and even Hanamura seemed to pause.

Kujikawa looked from one to the other and very quietly said, "Oops."

Naoto patted herself down. _Phone... where is my phone..._ She stumbled out of the living room, into her bedroom and all but fell on the bed, reaching for her night stand. She pulled her phone from its charger and flipped it open.

 _Apps... Calendar... oh dear gods._

When she was about to thud hard to the ground, she felt two strong arms catch her and redirect her to her bed. A voice, as if miles away, said "Oh man, I am so sorry, I totally forgot..." while another female voice, familiar, closer, gently showered her with soft words. "Let me just take the phone... there we go, I'll put it right here, okay? You're okay, Naoto-kun. I know this is weird, but trust us, everything is okay, school is taken care of, and we sorted it out. No one reported you missing, Yu checked already. No reason to worry yourself, okay?"

"How... how is that... even remotely possible," she breathed. Naoto stared blankly ahead of her and her thoughts turned into the proverbial 'unstoppable wild horses'. _Weeks? I have been missing for_ weeks _now? How could any person go missing for_ weeks _? How could the police not react to me being missing, being gone from school for this amount of time? They would have known I had been taken by someone. They_ would _have started to look for me! Naoto Shirogane missing during a live investigation, they would not-_

Staring blankly, shuddering all over, she curled up on her side. She heard distorted murmurs, felt light hands pat her here and there, but everything was drowned out in the storm inside of her.

 _Weeks. How is that even feasible? Dehydration would have killed me in that time. Other physical markers would have shown themselves. If it had been weeks, then how can I still function, still reason at all? I should be dead. I should by all rights have ceased to be, seeing I have no memory of consuming nutrients or liquids in my time with the clo- the_ shadow _._

 _Grampa!_ She scrabbled at her bed, her pillow, she had her phone here only a moment ago, where was it?

Hands took her wrists and she heard through her panic a soft voice. The voice said something. And then something ... actually, the same thing, again.

And again, this time with her shoulders being shaken. "NAOTO!"

Taken aback, she tried to squirm out of the grasp, only to have it tighten on her. "Why..."

A hand brushed a pigtail out of her face. "Man, you had us getting real worried this time. You curled up and totally spaced out, as if you were, like, not here."

Naoto stared unseeing into the worried face of Rise Kujikawa before mumbling, "Shock."

"What?"

A calm, male voice spoke from outside her room. "Means she got so startled by what you said, that her mind could not cope and shut down."

"Oh Naoto-kun. I'm so sorry. I thought they had already-

"It is vital that I get in touch with my grampa. Please."

"Sure, sure, uhm, we... we'll be outside."

The detective nodded mutely, then called out: "Thank you, Rise-san," as the girl left the room.

The idol turned and smiled. "Keep callin' me Rise and everything will be okay!" She all but skipped outside.

Naoto listened to the others file out one by one and she heard her door shutting.

 _I will not lose control now. I have my home secured and to myself. This all has a logical explanation. I will not overreact…_

Calmly talking to herself, Naoto got up on shaky legs, ignoring the tremor that ran through her deepest core like the plucked string of a harp and walked back into her living room. She slowly knelt before her table. Pulled her laptop out from the drawer underneath it. Plugged in the power cord. Nice and methodically. Each movement calm and with purpose. _This is a misunderstanding and I can easily clear it up._

She stared at the screen of her laptop as it booted. Her lock screen showed the time and date. September 26th, 15:26 o'clock.

After entering her password (twice, due to shaky fingers) she watched the machine start up her email, browser and bookmarked pages, a VPN tool to log into different law enforcement databases and into her server at the estate.

Unread Emails: Two.

Voice Mail directed to home server: Two.

One email contact was from Dojima. One from Grampa.

One voice mail was from a US phone number. One from a local Inaba number, perhaps Dojima as well.

She leaned away from the table and slowly placed her hands on her legs, slumping slightly. Even through the cloth of her slacks could she feel the iciness that all but radiated from her fingers. A lump started to form in her throat, hot tears of anger welled up in her eyes and the tremble inside of her still tried to break free.

She wanted to hide. She wanted to sleep till this nightmare was over. What in the world had she gotten herself _into_? Television sets? Shadows? Mysterious illnesses?

 _theycanexplainletthemintheyarewaitingforyou_

 _'Be quiet.'_

Naoto wasn't even sure what she was addressing, or if she was speaking to herself. Whichever it was, right now it was distracting her and she needed to focus.

She sat up straight, shifting her feet to have her heels support her and push her up. _I am a Shirogane. I will not be overwhelmed by simple, undeniable facts._

Setting her jaw, a small frown on her forehead, she reached for her laptop. She would deal with Grampa first.

Not reading his email, she didn't trust that lump still trying to build in her throat, she simply opened a new email form and sent him a polite but brief message. She apologized for making him wait, cited non-descriptive involvements and promised an answer soon.

After sending it, she hesitated a moment before copying that message and sending it to Dojima as well. It was simple enough to possibly cover both issues, and if the local detective had found out something thanks to her disappearance, she could still deal with that in a little while.

Her hands came to a rest to each side of her laptop as she stared into thin air, trying to sort out what the next immediate need was.

A knock reminded her that the teens were likely to be outside still. Through the door she heard the sound of a muffled conversation before she tuned them out again. If she waited long enough, chances were they might leave.

All her physical mail is stored at a postal office mail box. She should make plans to check into that.

If she had been missing for two weeks, she could also contact the high school's faculty and inquire after missed lessons. Kujikawa-san had mentioned a cover story, so she first needed to find out what her alibi was.

Further she needed to find out how two full weeks could just up and go missing!

 _letthemintheycantellyou_

 _'Be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate...'_

The knock repeated, louder, and a muffled voice repeated "Naoto-chan?" followed by a small yelp. _Hanamura. Of course, he could not be trusted to respect my dignity, as already proven in the past._

A second knock, and the raised voice of Satonaka. "Naoto-kun? May we come back in, please?"

The detective closed her eyes and sighed softly. By now it _would_ be rude to ignore them at her door.

She got up and opened the door, her eyes flickering from Hanamura to Satonaka. She saw no one else.

Before she could form the question, Hanamura shrugged. "Rise said she wanted to go study or something and Yu said he had plans, too..."

"I see. Well, if you wish to leave as well..."

A moment of quiet, as Satonaka and Hanamura exchanged glances.

"Well, I had planned to stay here either way," Satonaka started, "not sure if Yosuke wanted to hang out. Might be nice to get to know everyone?" She gave Naoto a hopeful smile.

Naoto crossed her arms. Uncrossed them. Pursed her lips. Eyed the teens. This was her chance to tell them politely but firmly she would prefer privacy. But it was also Satonaka, who had helped her with last night's... unpleasantness. She could also use the time to try and cross-examine the two teens against one another about the questions boiling in her mind about the days she had been missing.

She nodded and stepped aside. "Please. Can I offer you tea?"


	20. Chapter 20 - Communications 3

Receipt Date: Mon, 26th Sept 2011 20:49:40

Delivered-To: ShiroganeYF

Subject: Re: Inaba

From: Shirogane, Naoto shiroganenaoy

To: Shirogane, Y.F. shiroganeyf

* * *

Good evening Grampa,

Or likely good morning, once this reaches you.

I am very sorry you had been unable to reach me. I am back in Inaba now, though at this time I will not be able to answer any questions regarding my location or investigation of the past few days. It is safe to say I am making progress again thanks to some unanticipated leads and I hope to be able to brief you on my findings speedily. It is picking up definite momentum and I expect being able to share my findings soon.

I am sorry to hear your own case seems to be proceeding haltingly as well. It almost appears as if both of us will have to bear through long hours on our cases. I would like to once more offer my own assistance, but I understand that it would in this instance not be viable.

However, I do understand your English to be very passable, if not near-fluent. Why is it you would require a translator to work with you on this matter? Is it the specific vocabulary used in the case that makes it a necessity?

My endeavor to fit in with my fellow students is currently undergoing an unanticipated boost. At this time, your concern about my growth in that area is unfounded. I have had frequent visitors at my apartment and I am striving to be an upstanding example in being a host during these encounters. I will, of course, also keep you informed on how these ventures proceed, but I am confident, that I will be able to integrate myself in a superior manner into this specific social circle following these visits.

On the subject of Kanji Tatsumi; you must have misunderstood me, Grampa. I had in no means strived to make it appear as if there was anything but a professional interest in his person. I do not believe him being involved in any illicit activities. I might have at some point prior to my last excursion feared his involvement in the Inaba case, but his upstanding behaviour has cleared my mind of previously present doubts. My disappointment in my interactions with him fully stemmed from his refusal to support my investigation, nothing else. I will admit, however, that his insights are likely to have sped up my recent excursion and expedited the conclusion of it. I greatly credit him with the satisfactory outcome of that matter and would be thankful if you were to disregard my previously critical comments about him or his actions. I will need to revise how I place him in the current social network and within my own contacts. I had, as I did mention, planned on utilizing him to help me towards being assimilated by the teens at my school. His assistance would have been to help me blend and mesh with them. I do not anticipate needing to spend more time on his person, especially not now that I seem to have found a means of integration on my own. His assistance in coming affairs will be welcome, no doubt, but there is no desideratum on my part to concentrate a future abundance of time or energy in my relationship concerning Tatsumi-san. He will be a valued fellow student and you may see me mention him in that role in the future.

I am further relieved that you do not feel I have brought our family name into a dissatisfactory light. I will conclude this matter, Grampa, and I will do so with the dignity and worthiness of the Shirogane name.

I cannot promise you a phone call any time soon, but I will endeavor stay in closer contact.

Yours

Naoto


	21. Chapter 21

_Sorry I kept you waiting, it was Kanji's birthday, after all, and Enough Is Enough simply_ had _to go up._

 _I'm back into DF, yay! Took me a while to shake off writing JCD, oh man. Meaning, we have our cold detective prince back. No more overt romance for a while, sorry, guys!_

* * *

 **September 27th, 2011**

There had not been another handoff that evening. Satonaka and Hanamura had stayed till the late evening. The conversation with them had been disappointing, and Naoto had wished that Narukami had not left so early. The feeling she got, was that he was the head of their little 'investigation team', as they loved calling themselves. Without him, the rest seemed rather useless.

She had gotten little to no direct information about their situation or the teens involvement in the case. Most of it was being deflected by her unwilling guests and by the time Hanamura left and Satonaka-senpai said that she'd get ready for the night on the couch. Naoto only felt deep irritation.

The shock of having lost the better part of two weeks had cleared the fog of self-loathing and confusion at least. While Satonaka read a manga Hanamura had brought along for her, Naoto withdrew into her bedroom with her case files and paper, writing down anything connected to her own vanishing and noting anything she could remember about the night. It wasn't much, but she had to hold on to it while she still could.

Her night had been restless, but she had not woken up to being cradled by Satonaka-senpai. She'd taken it as a sign that she was regaining control.

Control was important. She needed to take charge of what was happening here. If possible, she actually needed to _take charge_ of this group and steer them into the right way of doing things. They wanted to be an investigation team? They should act like one.

She had asked Satonaka if she could reach out to Narukami to inquire if he could stop by that night to have a frank and open exchange on information. The older girl had hesitated, but after some more pressure conceded to pass along the message. Now all Naoto could do was wait.

Noon came and with it the older girl saying she would nip out to go grab some food. It took some convincing, but Naoto actually managed to have the girl agree to take money from her for the shopping. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't a burden any longer on the group, and she had the means to contribute fairly.

The young detective withdrew into her bedroom shortly after Satonaka had left, putting her scrambled thoughts from last night into order. Or tried to, and failing.

 _All of this lacks logic. If there was a clear pattern, or indeed any semblance of normality, this would have been solved already. Then again if this had any semblance of normality, it would not at all be what it is._ She had endured her 'shadow', had seen, if through the muffled filter of exhaustion, the odd secret base she had been held in. And losing two weeks in what felt like a day at most …

The normality with which the other teens handled this baffled her, too.

How could anyone be this calm about entering a world different from the one that is reality to do combat? They hardly thought anything of it, indeed, Satonaka sounded excited whenever she spoke of it.

If anything, their blasé approach angered her. Any kind of combat needed to be taken seriously and with the care to not injure yourself or anyone near. Could we be certain that other world only held enemies? What if civilians were to be involved? _On that note, they are civilians themselves._

She was not in her best of spirits by the time Satonaka returned. She accepted the takoyaki the other girl had brought and nibbled listlessly on one of the savory morsels.

"Hey, Naoto-kun?"

"Yes, Satona-"

"Chie. Please?"

" _Satonaka-san_. I do not know you, and indeed should be calling you senpai, seeing you are my upperclassman. What is it you wish?"

The girl sighed, licking her steak skewer and putting her take-out box down. "You're so stubborn." Oddly, she said it with a fondness that clashed with the rude comment in Naoto's ears. "So, I'll need to run out and do some errands soon, also need to pick up some school work from a classmate that Yuki didn't see today. I'll be nipping out in a few, and Yuki said she will head here right after school, so I think she'll be here in less than 30 minutes."

"Can I not at all convince you that I do not require babysitting? I have steadily improved over the past few days, have I not?"

"Sure, but that's not really the point. You've got no one looking after you, and if you have a bad spell, who would be here to take care of things? That's right," she said after a small pause and watching Naoto's face fall grim, "no one would notice in time. Please, Naoto-kun." She got up and went on her haunches before her. "Please let us do this for you. We care about you."

The Shirogane heir chewed on her next words for a few moments before she said lowly, "You do not even know me. You know nothing of me."

Satonaka's eyebrows rose and she leaned back, counter-balancing herself with her hands on her knees. "Well, then see it as your _senpai_ feeling responsible for you over a matter that they know more of than you. Maybe your pride can allow that?"

 _Oddly, yes, it could._ Naoto did not like it, indeed, she squeezed her eyes shut a moment and tried to find another solution, another answer than the obvious. But manners had been drilled into her deeply from a young age on and as such all she could say was, "Yes, Satonaka-senpai."

The sporty girl smiled, nodded pleased and jumped to her feet. "Yuki won't be long, so don't feel too lonesome! I'll be back to visit soon, you hear?"

"Yes. Thank you. Um, have a good day."

The second-year gave her a bright smile, then skipped out the door.

Naoto let herself flop onto her couch and sighed. Sadly, the older girl's logic was correct. She could have a relapse and need assistance. As much as she hated it, that relapse could be either physical or psychological, and being alone during either would be uncomfortable at best. She did not wish to ponder a worst-case scenario for this.

It indeed was only a few minutes before Amagi arrived and took over the run of the household, like she did in previous days. She cleaned up after her friend, who had left her box of take-out on the table; started up tea and chattered at Naoto in her friendly, quiet tone.

Sadly she, too, was not up to answering more questions she had about the case. After very few questions she suggested to talk to Narukami about 'all of that' and it was obvious, she would not be available for any further comment.

It did little for Naoto's mood. She had already lost two weeks. She needed answers in order to make any progress in this matter. And to make things worse, those around her who could possibly tell her more all submitted to a single person as line of contact.

In turn, she only had small talk to offer, none of which Naoto had any interest in. So instead, she withdrew into the confinement of her own thoughts, trying to arrange questions and find solutions for other pressing issues.

It was in the middle of this brooding that she heard a knock and saw Amagi rise as if it was normal for her to answer the doors of other people's homes. From along the hallways she heard the conversation.

"Rise-chan, Kanji-kun! Thank you for dropping by." The younger girl sighed. Of all things, she sounded like the manager at an inn welcoming guests.

"Uh... why're you..." At this voice she stopped and looked towards the hallway, not seeing who was there. But even not seeing him she knew it was Tatsumi. Not someone she needed to think about right now.

Amagi continued, answering the unspoken question. "Oh, I've been here an hour already. I came straight after school. Chie had to run an errand and I didn't want to leave Naoto-kun by herself."

The young detective scoffed. _Yes, well, I am sure I do not need a monitoring bracelet just yet, either._

"So, I'm happy you're here. _Very_ happy." _And why does she sound annoyed? She is the one invading my home…_

"No problem! We even brought food." That sounded like the resident idol, who then skipped through the door. "Hey, Naoto-kun!"

"Hello Ku-" she put her hands up at the same moment the other girl pointed at her, "yes, sorry, hello Rise-san."

She _had_ used the more familiar first name before, she knew she would not win a tug-o-war with the personality the girl had. She also sorely regretted that she had let herself give in to that yesterday. As it stood, she would simply need to live with this. Well. Kujikawa was a fellow student. It should be manageable.

Still, she should not make any of them feel too welcome. She needed to wait for Narukami to make his social call and explain what was going on here. These visits, well-intended as they most certainly were, were just a distraction. Rest? She had no time for _rest_ , she needed to push forward, work, and ensure that the case would not grow cold yet again. Frankly, they all should.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she noticed the others file in, but her thoughts on the matter of more teenagers invading her home were none she would need to share at this time.

After an undetermined amount of time, _Rise-san_ seemed to have found a lull in her relentless chatter with their senpai and appeared from the kitchen, stuck to the arm of Kanji Tatsumi. "Kanji-kun wanted to see you too, Naoto-kun," the idol trilled, positively snuggling up to him. "He's sorry for not coming earlier." She flashed him a grin. "And he's really happy you're back." He, in turn, made a startled choking sound.

Naoto was still not entirely sure if the idol's relationship with Tatsumi was a romantic one or not, or if she simply tried to get close to any male, but she disapproved of the public displays of affection.

Still, out of all the other teens, Tatsumi had been the one she would consider closest to her, and their interactions had always been cordial. She compromised to giving him a crisp nod. That would have to do, it was more than she wanted, seeing right now all she wanted was to talk to Narukami.

Kujikawa chuckled, released the young man and skipped to hop on the couch.

Which is where she remained for the next hour or so, chatting up a storm with Amagi.

Naoto spent this time fruitlessly trying to come up with questions and directions for her investigation. Sadly, without her notes to compare and without the ability to add to her notes, she could not make a whole lot of progress in that regard. She attempted a few times to turn the conversation towards her interests, but gave up swiftly in the way the talk was directed all around her.

After what felt like an eternity, Kujikawa jumped to her feet and stretched, giving Naoto a sunshine-bright smile. "Okay, Naoto-kun, we'll be off, but I promise we will be back tomorrow!" Without waiting for a reply, she turned to the tall young man leaning where he had been for the entire time and grabbed his arm. "C'mon, Kanji-kun. Let's go. Chie-senpai's heading back here soon, she'll keep Yukiko-senpai and Naoto company."

Naoto did not need to see them out. Clearly, everyone in their little 'investigation team' considered themselves quite at home in her apartment already and they didn't need her permission or her fare-wells upon leaving.

It was not very long after they had left that Amagi and herself had settled into the very soothing silence that they had groomed and cultivated in the past few weeks. It must not have been for long after this that Satonaka-senpai walked in, carrying a large plastic bag.

"Hiya Yuki, hello Naoto-kun! Hey, I brought you something that should make you smile." She handed her the plastic bag – dropped it in her lap, really – and giggled.

The kohai looked at the short-haired girl, then into the plastic bag. Which was stuffed full with letters. A frown crept on her face and she let her hand rummage aimlessly into the bag and pulled out a hand full of colorful envelopes.

"See, the rumor is that the brilliant Detective Prince has come down very seriously ill. And your adoring fans are worried."

After flinching at that terrible nickname, Naoto started to look through each of the letters in more detail. They were sealed with kisses, heart-stickers, flowery professions of 'waiting for him' and other such drivel. One especially thick envelope stood out, it turned out to be a collection of professions from Megumi Enomoto, nonsense about missing her prince, how no other girl understood as much as her and how much she wished she knew where he was, so she could nurse him. _The correct, if somewhat juvenile reaction to this would be: Blech._

"Thank you, Satonaka-senpai-"

" _Chiiiii-eeeee_ …" the older girl sighed slowly.

"-but all of this is so much more paper to be recycled. I have no interest in this nonsense. Not from these foolish girls. Not that I would have time for it in my busy work schedule."

Amagi, who had been giggling to herself for a little while now, fought for a slightly more serious expression. "Did you ever, you know, make it clear that you are off-limits?"

"What use would that be? I have not encouraged any of this, from none of these … From none of them."

"Maybe not," Satonaka said softly, "but we're talking about girls who are crazy about you. Or, well, about … hrm."

"Quite. As you yourself just discovered: they do not even know me. They are infatuated with an idea. No amount of logic or proof could dissuade them from their fantasy."

"That… that sadly makes sense. Yeah. Got nothing. Sorry." She fidgeted with her hands for a moment, then gazed at the bag. "So, what do you do with these? Organize them somehow?"

Naoto sighed, getting up. "I do my part and recycle them. As you would do with paper that served its purpose. In this case, the purpose was to live a dream while being written on. They have already fulfilled their intended purpose."

"Wouldn't their purpose be for you to read them?" The raven-haired girl frowned.

"Amagi-san, the person who needs to read these does not exist!" Naoto leaned with one hand against the passage to the kitchen. "There is no Naoto Shirogane, Detective Prince! There is no _he_. There is no need to hold on to the professions of love towards a fictional character!"

The silence that followed her outburst was heavy and even uncomfortable to her own ears. She tried to escape it into her kitchen. After dropping the letters into the large waste paper box, Naoto sighed and folded up the plastic bag slowly. She turned to the stove and set up the kettle before returning to the living room.

Amagi and Satonaka sat together on the couch, speaking softly. They stopped as she walked in and gave her an almost worried look.

"I apologize. It seems I still have not yet fully recovered from my… experience." She seated herself before them, leaning against her coffee table. "I have never been very fond of the nickname. Detective Prince. While on one hand it gave me the freedom needed to act as I chose, it did shackle me into a role I did not wish to fulfill at our school. The attention I have garnered is… unpleasant."

"Really, don't worry about it, Naoto-kun," Satonaka replied, "and I am sorry if I was teasing. It's in my nature. I blame hanging out too much with Yosuke. We go back and forth all the time."

"Thank you. I've started up the kettle. Please, do not let me mood disturb our evening."

"Actually, Naoto-kun, Yuki just told me how uneasy you have been with us around. So," the two older girls shared a look, "maybe we should leave you be tonight? You have our numbers. If you promise you'll call if you need help and check in with us every now and again, I'll be okay with backing off. I'm not here to make you feel all anxious."

The logical response would have been a resounding 'Yes, please leave', after all, it was what she had been silently wishing for all evening long. But now that it was starting to grow dark outside, a strange uneasiness came over the cobalt-haired girl.

Still. Nothing she could not handle. "I greatly appreciate your understanding in that matter. I would indeed prefer to be able to stand on my own two feet again." Her senpai nodded and made to rise. "But… please, let me first share some tea with you. You only just arrived, Satonaka-san, I would not feel as an adequate host making you leave right away."

* * *

 **September 29th, 2011**

In the last thirty-six hours, Naoto had spent most of her time in her bedroom, drifting between sleep and fitful bouts of work. Every time she was certain she had found a possible culprit to investigate, a few hours of sleep cleared her head and she found a flaw in her reasoning, overturning all her previous work.

There had been a very brief visit by Hanamura and Amagi the previous day, but both said they had an errand to run and only had come to check if she was hungry or needed anything. Thankfully, she had peace since then.

She wasn't sure at all what time it was, when she awoke to someone knocking sharply at her door. Yesterday had been blissfully quiet, with just a couple of phone calls. She had not expected anyone to show up today. Whoever it was would go away again. She curled back up.

After about half a minute, the pounding at her door repeated, louder, accompanied with a worried-sounding, "Naoto? You there?"

 _Ah. Tatsumi. And remembering the protective streak he has towards me, I believe him capable of breaking in my door to check on me._ Naoto sighed and rolled out of her bed, making for her door. After peering through the door spy, she sighed fixed her glare in place, and cracking open the door just enough to glare out at him. "Tatsumi-san," she muttered. "Why are you here?"

"Visit," he choked out, nervously fiddling with a bouquet of flowers in one hand, a cooler at his feet and a canvas bag over his shoulder. _Flowers?_ He gestured back down the hallway. "R-Rise, she was gonna come too, but she hadta-"

 _'Rise', again._ "Then I'm sure you'll want to follow," the cobalt-haired girl muttered, pulling the door to shut it in his face. She did not get far, the door seemed to catch and would not close. She tugged at the handle, looked down slowly, saw his boot wedged in, paused and looked back up at her classmate. "Tatsumi-san. You will remove your foot from my door. Presently."

He pulled himself up, staring down at her. "Sure, if ya open it." _Why does he have to be so tall?_

Naoto closed her eyes. She was _tired_ and had no energy to try and have an argument right now. Steeling herself, she flicked her eyes open to stare at him past her lowered brows. "There is no need for you or anyone else to be here. I am _fine_."

"Yeah. Sure." He let out a breath, running his free hand through his hair. "Look... I-I'm just bringin' stuff over, I'm not gonna sit on your sofa an' talk at you. Promise."

The girl stared up at him, fingers tightening then loosening around the edge of the door. She had managed to rid herself of her senpai, she should stick to her guns now. Letting anyone else back in could re-open the standing self-invites she had just seemed to break free of. Then again… this was Kanji Tatsumi. Based on his stance and bearing, he would refuse anything but an invitation inside.

With a quiet noise of frustration, she pulled the door open to face him properly. "I don't require _babysitting_ ," she muttered, tugging at her shirt collar. She should possibly have changed at least into her sleepwear. The starched stiffness itched along her neck.

"And I ain't here to baby-sit," Tatsumi growled, pointing to the bag slung over his shoulder. "Bringing you notes from school, thass all. You wanna fall behind?"

Naoto gave him a flat stare. She crossed her right hand to her left shoulder and leaned into the door frame. "And presumably the flowers are pens? Or does the cooler contain textbooks?"

The young man leaned forward and snarled, "The flowers are from Rise, alright? And the cooler, s'just some food, R-Rise said there's nothin' in your kitchen, that's why she keeps bringing crap over! And detectives don't know how to cook anyway!"

 _What?!_ Glowering, she tipped up her chin, squaring up. She grabbed the door in one hand, the frame in the other, ready to slam it shut again. "I am perfectly capable of consulting a recipe book."

"You don't have any."

How did he even know this? He seemed to not have paid attention to anything while he visited her two days ago, simply starting at the floor or ceiling. In any case, who needed cooking books? "I would check the internet."

"So what if y'did? When was the last time you cooked something?"

"I've had no reason to bother. Kujikawa-san has been providing ample food."

"Which y'tried once and never touched again, right?"

She had to admit, she walked into that. From the challenge in his voice, he had previously sampled her cooking and must have come to a similar conclusion as her: Rise Kujikawa seemed to use pure capsicum to lace her meals. Spicy was one thing, but her food was, well, possibly not fit for human consumption. But she would _not_ admit to that. "It... wasn't that bad."

He did not hesitate. "Liar."

"There are processed meals!"

"Yeah, real nutritious. You gonna live off ramen all week?"

Naoto's hands returned to door and frame, knuckles went gripping. In part because she was getting more and more worked up; in part because her exhaustion started to call in owed debt.

Tatsumi-san did not seem too intent to back down, either, and unlike her, he had the stamina to possibly continue the argument out here in the hallways for the next hour or so.

Finally he leaned down to pick up the cooler, shifting the rather garish bouquet into his other hand. "So, you go think about the case or whatever and I'll do my thing. Alright?"

How could he read her so easily? And how could he have the _gall_ to just assume she would do as he instructed? " _Fine_ ," she snapped, realizing seconds later that she was doing precisely as he had demanded and stalking back into the living room. She flopped on the couch, watching him turn into her kitchen and preparing to unpack from the cooler and tote bag.

As she watched him, her anger slowly changed. Naoto realized she was not angry at him, not as such. She was angry at herself. She was angry that as much as she hated to admit it, having him come to help her was comforting. A comfort she would not normally allow herself. A comfort she should, by all means, reject. _I should not even have anyone be interested enough in my well-being to feel they should provide me with such..._

The young Shirogane was used to being on her own, alone, self-sufficient. She knew how to run her modest needs in this small household. She knew the risks of trusting others to come to her aid and how slim her chances of such aid ever arriving was. In her recent years she had alienated others driven purely by her desire to never having to face separation or rejection.

And now in her kitchen stood a young man who barely knew her, indeed, who had mostly known her under her guise of being a young man, and he did not seem to mind.

She rose, walking towards him, stopping in the door frame. She gripped her left shoulder with her right hand and watched as he seemed to hesitate over the cooler. "What did you bring?"

He jumped, looking at her with something akin to wide-eyes panic. "S'just okonomiyaki," he mumbled, and pulled a spatula out the cooler and staring into it. _Astute. He brought his own after seeing the contents of my kitchen two days ago._ "You can heat it up."

She nodded, not that he could see it, and noticed the flowers once more. He had said, hastily, that they had been Rise-san's idea. _Gods, now I am getting used to thinking of her with that name already._ A small frown started to take over her brow. Why bring flowers? She wasn't sick. She just needed a little rest, that was all. "The flowers serve no purpose."

As if hit with an electric shock, he twitched. "Rise," Kanji blurted. "You got a vase somewhere?"

That was not something she generally had any need for. Who would buy her flowers? She only even took note of flowers if they were involved in a crime scene. Wordlessly, she shook her head, her right hand slowly rubbing her left shoulder.

"Don't matter," he muttered. "Figure somethin' out,"

She shifted her gaze from the sink to his back. _Why is he here, really? Is Rise really coming? Is his visit some form of romantic gesture? No, nonsense. It would be as unfounded as the letters she had given to Satonaka-senpai to dump into the paper recycling two days ago. But then why? So far, only the other girls had visited her on their own._

He seemed to have lost focus for his work, as he stood, shoulders slightly hunched, staring blankly in front of him.

Admittedly she had not thought much about him, but she felt a moment of uneasy thankfulness. He had carried her home. Had taken her berating and insults and punches and kicks and carried her here. What did that mean? Did it mean anything? Would he have done this for any of the others?

What was his future role going to be? She had told Grampa that she hoped he would be an anchor point in her investigation and in her newly forged social network. Her gaze slowly sank to the floor. _How does one create such a status? Will it happen naturally? How will him knowing the truth about me change his behaviour? Can I even still count on him?_

But it appeared she could. He brought her food. Saw she needed sustenance and provided it. Is that normal behaviour for friendship? Rise-san and Satonaka-senpai both had brought her meals. Did either of them encourage it?

He whirled around, as if wanting to say something, but the bone-tiredness Naoto felt made her unable to look up to meet his gaze. He turned back around presently.

 _Okonomiyaki_... "I don't recall trying it before," Naoto said quietly. "Okonomiyaki."

"S'good. Y-You got plates?"

She pointed at the correct cupboard hesitantly. Was he not pleased with simply leaving her the food? Why go ahead and prepare it now?

"S'posed to be resting, right?"

 _Ah, that's why._ Stroked by the fires of pride, she pulled herself up, turning her head to glower at him. "I am _fine_ ," she snapped.

"Yeah, y'said. Go sit down, gonna bring you somethin' to eat."

"There's absolutely no need for-"

"I know, alright?" The young man rounded on her, fists clenched. "Shit, I'm just trying to-"

Both froze. Naoto looked up at him and realized she had poised to defend herself. _Why? He has never made any threatening gesture towards me._ She watched him closely, saw something small and gentle in his eyes under the bluster of his stance. _I am upsetting him with my rejection…_

This would not do. He was in _her_ home. She folded her arms to show she was not moved by his antics, though after a moment, she could not make herself keep eye contact any longer. She gazed at the floor. "Very well. Do not make a mess." She stiffened, fearing this would be considered an invite to spend more time here. "And... you will leave afterwards."

With that, she vanished back into the living room. If it made him happy, he could stand in the kitchen all day for all she cared.

She snuggled into a corner of her couch, barely able to see him move about her kitchen here and there. For all she knew, Rise was supposed to come and somehow she had made him promise to take care of preparing food for…

She slid further into the couch. _No, because he was rather abrasive about her culinary skills and I doubt she would have admitted to such._

Curling up smaller, she let her eyes slide shut. _He can stay for now, but then he must leave._

She drifted off to the sounds of another person busily preparing food. For the first day in nearing three weeks she slept with a sense of comfort.


	22. Chapter 22

**September 30th, 2011, late evening**

Somewhere between waking up and drifting off to sleep again, Naoto pulled the blanket closer. Her eyes pinched shut, then reluctantly slid open to see her dark living room.

A quick survey of her situation told her she was curled up on her couch, a blanket was on her, nearly too warm, one leg was poking out to cool off already. Something smelled of prepared food, but the scent seemed cool, as if the meal had been hours ago.

With that, she started up, remembering Kanji Tatsumi. _He was here! He went to prepare me a meal and I went to sit on the couch and…_

Hurriedly she untangled herself from her blanket and stood. "Tatsumi?" He had left. He had to have left! It would not do for him to stay, alone, here!

She found a light switch and turned the lights on. Blinking at the brightness she made sure that she was indeed by herself. No one was in the living room, no one was in her bed- or bathroom. She walked into her kitchen and found some okonomiyaki stacked between one right-side up plate and another one flipped on top over it. He had left the spatula behind, possibly to allow for the food to be reheated again.

Anger clawed its way up her throat, a bitter, heavy feeling of helplessness and embarrassment.

Not only had he, who very much was only an acquaintance at best, taken the time to bring her food, he had asked her to _sit down and relax while he would serve it._ And her thanks for it was falling asleep.

Had he stayed? Waited for her to wake up? Had he left at once?

What was he thinking of her now?

She needed so desperately to regain control.

As she walked into her bathroom to shower, she felt the tears that had insistently formed and now started to well over her lids. Standing before her mirror, she squeezed her eyes shut to try and deny them. Stripping from her clothing she grunted and roughly wiped at her face.

She opened her eyes to regard a young woman, cheeks reddened from the rough wiping-away of her tears, stared back. Her eyes were soft, vulnerable. Her stance was hunched, unsure of herself. Something troubled her, but she had no means of dealing with her turmoil.

Naoto started to frown, the girl in the mirror glaring back at her.

 _stopthat_

She accepted the thought willingly. Yes. She would stop being that fragile little thing.

She grabbed a towel and walked away to wash up. She would not accept any further distractions from her goal. And that one was clear and easy to aim for.

Understand what is happening. Reassess. Solve her case. Leave. She needed to leave Inaba, soon. This place prompted too many uneasy feelings and thoughts.

* * *

 **October 2nd, 2011**

She had prepared the small coffee table with a collection of her trimmed-down notes and case files. What she had used the most so far was a large note pad, and she took notes as fast as she could while Narukami-senpai listed off dates, places, and phrases she would absolutely need to look up at a later time.

"And you say you said 'Persona!' when the card appeared before you. Why? What does that signify?"

The boy scrubbed his hand through his shaggy grey hair. "Honestly, Naoto-kun, I've not got the slightest idea. It all felt so strangely normal. The card appeared and I knew if I destroy it, and call out, I would be helped."

"Indeed," she said, flipping back a page, "a blue tarot card. Zero-Zero, the Fool…"

"Yes. Within it I knew was a power to help me survive."

"But you also say you did not know why."

"Yes," he sighed.

"Peculiar. So far you have mentioned terminology of Jung's psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and extraversion and introversion." She frowned at the pages before her, tapping the pen against her lips.

A polite cough made her look up. "I've no idea what you just said," her senpai admitted softly.

"Oh, I apologize. Carl Jung wrote a number of standard works for psychology, it's all quite basic, really, but he did create a number of still-used terms that are being worked with in the analysis of mental disease and general psychology." She leaned back, her arms crossing on the coffee table. "Without going into too much detail: Jung, much like Sigmund Freud, worked on the understanding and classification of the human emotional state, subconscious and individuation. He in fact worked with Freud in a close collaboration for some time, till he diverged and broke with him, stating that Freud's' concepts were too narrow and too negative. Where Freud stated the unconscious was dark and undesirable, formed by supressed emotions and desires, Jung wishes to state that there is more. He also included the formation of archetypes, the collective subcon… senpai?"

The boy twitched as if someone had woken him from a nap. "I… I'm sorry, Naoto-kun. I don't think I can follow all of this. Do you have an even smaller summary for me?"

Her jaw set and she exhaled slowly. "The terminology you seem to simply know without an explanation is…" She stopped herself once more. "Think of the persona as a mask you show to the outside world. What you want others to perceive of you. And the warning is, that you should never strive to become that mask you use to the outside world, else it consumes you. The result would be enantiodromia, a cataclysmic event which breaks the persona and brings forth the shadow aspect. The shadow being an unconscious aspect of the personality which the conscious ego does not wish to identify in itself and may in fact reject forcefully. However… no, that is too simplified, as the shadow may also well contain positive aspects which may also remain hidden…"

She stared at the table, frowning. How to break something as complex as persona identification, disintegration, negative restoration, absence and finally restoration into bite-sized chunks?

She decided to skip that part for now. "Suffice to say, senpai, that this is all found in generally accepted medical terms. I'll find no hindrance in finding out more on these matters on my own. Which would lead me to my next question then..." She flicked through her note pad while her senpai poured himself more tea. "Ah, yes, how do you fight? We have covered how you found the world, how you found one another and even how you found Kubo. While I was... being held, I could see your group approach darkness, or have darkness moved towards you, then it would consume you... but I was unable to make out anything other than that. What happens when you approach these 'lesser shadows', exactly?"

He shifted, settling down more comfortably, as she flicked to a new page and watched him expectantly. "Well… you mentioned you were able to see something from the outside. Tell me what you saw, maybe I can elaborate on it then."

Naoto frowned at her question being turned right back around to her, but nodded. "Very well. I could not see a whole lot, truth be told." She noted down his question and her answer as she spoke. "I saw a formless black mass that seemed to become attracted to your group, you were surrounded by it, then I saw a wavering darkness and now and again one of the team staggering back or swinging a weapon, but naught else. After a while, the darkness would clear like fog and I could see you again."

"Huh. So that's what you see. To us, the shadow turns into a specific shape. I mentioned them, the shadows, wearing masks. They seem to align somehow to one another, they will always take on a new form and split into up to five lesser shadows. When they split, they seem to be able to take on different forms or aspects, however, it seems they like to always group up into specific … kinds, I guess?"

The detective scribbled eagerly, trying to soak up the information the leader of the teenagers provided.

"You know, it would be easier to simply show you all of this, Naoto-kun."

"Perhaps so, but if I am to perform within the group, I need to be brought up to their level of expertise," she replied, frowning at her notes. "There is yet so much I do not fully comprehend."

The grey-haired boy sighed and leaned on the table. "Actually, Naoto-kun, there are other things I would rather speak of with you, especially concerning the team."

"Yes?" She halted, looking up from her notes. "Should I open a new page for this?"

He chuckles softly. "A new page… yes, you should absolutely turn a new page, Naoto-kun."

Confused by his mirth, she kept his gaze held with hers, flipping over a few pages. "You see, Naoto-kun, I was speaking with the others in the last few days. They made it clear how urgently you wished to talk to me. And, yes, I did get each message you had them send me."

Slowly her eyes widened as he spoke. "So you wilfully _ignored_ my requests to talk to you? Even knowing how urgently we needed to speak?"

As a reply, he picked up his tea cup and slowly sipped. His gaze remained on the cup as he put it back down. "Yes, Naoto-kun. I had decided that you needed to rest, more then you needed to gather information."

The glower came unbidden. Naoto very deliberately put her pen down and steepled her fingers, slowly bringing them to her face. She needed a moment.

While she heard him go on, explaining his reasons for blatantly ignoring the case, she fumed quietly. She had endured her secrets being torn from her before these teens. Had suffered through days of being ill – which still wasn't explained to her fully as of yet! – and the obnoxious _visits_ her new comrades had insisted on pushing on her. On top of all of this, she was now, curtly, being informed that again someone else had decided for her how to address matters.

"You realize you are directly interfering with an ongoing police investigation by wilfully withholding information from me?"

Narukami looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yes." With that he simply waited for her to continue.

"And you hopefully also realize that every minute we wait could lead to another victim?"

"Mhm, it could happen, yes, but we would know."

"Are you telling me you are pleased with simply waiting till something happens? Do you not feel responsible to stopping this… situation?"

"Sure I do. But we are high schoolers. We have classes. We need to have a social life. We must ensure we are safe. And I highly doubt even you would be able to convince the police to join us inside the TV world."

"It has been _months_ ," she snapped, "and we have precious little to show. You should have seen me days ago, Narukami-senpai, so we could devise a plan to-"

"Naoto-kun. Listen."

She snapped her mouth shut, glowering.

"We cannot move forward. Not yet. The problem in all of this is not a lack of understanding, but a lack of knowing. So far, Yukiko, Kanji, Rise and you yourself were taken. But unless you have a great new break to reveal, then I can tell you that none of the others remembered even being taken. We have nothing new to go on. We try, and we do our best to protect anyone who is taken, no matter who they are. But running ourselves ragged will not help anyone, we'll only drive ourselves crazy."

The young Shirogane chewed on the words madly racing through her brain. Who did this teenager think he is, that he would attempt, _attempt_ to try and tell her how to lead an investigation? She had lead entire departments years ago during cases she spearheaded. Her experience would out-value anyone he could even dare to hope to work with.

"Also," he continued, not waiting for her to reply, "there is another thing we really need to talk about."

Naoto chose to simply quietly glower at him.

"Your behaviour." He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "You've been a jerk. Or, to put it differently," he continued as she bristled up, "you are showing yourself excessively hostile to the team."

"Because they are trying to _baby_ me," she shot back. "I am just as old as you are, and yet it seems no one wishes to even show me a shred of respect as you would amongst peers. Indeed, I have been treated as a witless child a number of times by all of you!" The raising of her voice had not been intended. She didn't mean to yell, did not mean to be abrasive towards him, but her patience was at its very limit.

"You have been sick. Indeed, everyone who had been abducted before you didn't get as bad as you did. You've been the worst we pulled out so far. We honestly care. We're scared seeing you like this. Both Chie and Yukiko have told me that they would rather have someone here overnight every day. They only recently stopped because they started to chafe under your very... _abrasive_ behaviour." It was his turn to frown. "We're on your side. We are worried for you."

She sat back, staring at him with an absolutely blank expression. "You do not even know me…"

"You're a fellow student. We know what we would of your job like anyone else in town. And we know that you have seen and experienced things close to what all of us had to experience and see. In a very real manner, we know you better than any other seven people on this globe would know you. And still you push us away." Narukami shook his head. "To the point of being hurtful. We have offered you nothing but our help because we knew you're in bad shape."

Naoto pressed her cool fingertips to her forehead and glowered at the table. Had she really been… a little tone-deaf in her interactions perhaps?

"I must ask you this now. Do you wish to join the team, Naoto-kun? Please think carefully on your answer. If you say no, I will get up and leave and we will no longer trouble you. I would hope you could stay with us, but I first need to know if this is even something you actually desire."

"Of course I would seek to join forces with you. You are, after all, my best lead in this case."

"So why are you not acting like you indeed want to be a part of the team?"

"What?" She looked up at him in confusion.

"I should possibly not tell you this, but you upset Chie enough to make her cry the other night. She asked me what to do, what she had done wrong. And I had to tell her she hadn't done anything wrong. She simply tried to be there for you, and you pretty much made her feel miserable about herself _and_ about spending any more time with you." It was his turn to lean forward and rest his chin on his closed fist. "Do you think the team would accept you if they feel uneasy about spending more time with you?"

Satonaka-senpai. Crying. Those two words would not mix in her mind. It seemed impossible for her to make the connection.

But something else rang true. If she was to join this group, making enemies was not the way to go. The bigger problem with this however – she had not realized how her behaviour affected those around her.

It was a problem that most certainly wasn't new to her. In some level, she knew that the manner in which she interacted with others was felt as being cold, detached, and even abrasive. It possibly was part of her problem when working on cases for a longer period of time, too. While others wished to blend social life with work, she would prefer to keep the two separated. She also knew where this behaviour originated from.

"I am… poor at making friends, Narukami-senpai. In part due to never having made many friends of my own age to begin with. In part due to my desire to keep my work purely professional and without emotional attachments."

"I can see that." The boy nodded at her, but did not smile. "I really, honestly can see that. But we are all friends. We need to be, in order for us to do what we do. I do not believe we could face what we face without the emotional support of one another. And I firmly believe even you would benefit from this support. But you'll need to work on regaining it now."

He made to rise and Naoto stood with him. "You are leaving?"

"Yes. I think you'll need to think on things for a while, and I would rather make sure that you have some time before you give me your answer."

Narukami gave her a brief nod and saw himself out.


	23. Chapter 23

_Hi guys!_

 _Here's the thing: Some stuff happened concerning White Knighting over on Ikasury's stories and comments, that has left a VERY bitter taste in my mouth I am days later still upset enough to no longer wishing to have my traffic direct to FFN over the matter.  
_

 _My own result of this is: Yeah, I will post some of the chapter here, but I am moving my future and continued work over to Archive of Our Own. I simply don't wish to support a site that can habour a community that supports the stifling of creative process. (Also, AO3 allows me to more directly interact with my readers, so there is that.) - Edit: Yes, same handle as here... same handle as I use all over, heh.  
_

* * *

 **October 3rd, 2011**

Sleep had not come for her and since Narukami had left the previous evening, she had been by herself. No one had come to visit, no one had called or texted her. This had left her with a vast abundance of time to go over the notes she had written while they spoke, time to look into Carl Jung and his theories, time to read up on basic psychology on shadow, persona and the possibility of enantiodromia.

Unfortunately, it had also left her with too much time to think on the other matter her senpai had brought forward. At first it had felt like Narukami had delivered his speech, set the barbs of insult and humiliation into her flesh and then simply left.

None the less, it had been more than that. He had left her alone with her thoughts and the knowledge of what his words truly meant. Now her thoughts kept refocussing on the core statement he had made yesterday, and this had possibly been his actual goal in his speech and leaving the way he did.

It could be, that the teens rejected her further involvement into the case.

 _Hostile. Abrasive. Hurtful._

These were the words he had used to describe her actions. To describe her behaviour and her manner of interaction with her peers. Had pointed out to her how she should reflect on his words, on her actions, on the reactions sparked within the team.

Naoto sat in her living room. She was perched on the corner of her couch, elbows on her knees, staring sightlessly at the floor before her.

 _Hostile_. Yes. She could see that. She had thought it being an obvious reaction, too, to the way her home had been invaded by them. Repeatedly even! She had been given no say in the matter and… _Wait. Had I no say in the matter? I did not at first, true, and I had relented. But had I no say on later days? Had they not spoken to me? Had I not the chance to point out to them my true unease about the situation? My own feelings? My shame? My embarrassment?_

 _No… those are excuses._ If she had to be honest about the matter, all of these are just presumptions about her status and her situation. The junior Shirogane had actually simply assumed. Assumption, she knew, was the bane of _any_ investigation and no professional should ever let themselves get pulled into that dark morass. But it happened. The right thing to do was removing oneself from it without too much embarrassment.

The same held true for _abrasive_ , she knew. Instead of actually saying what she should have, politely, if curt, she had fallen into the trope of being sarcastic and cynical with those who would fight to ensure her safety. Instead of being grateful, instead of being thankful, instead of acceptance for the help provided willingly, she had sought ulterior motives; had cast to find a way to belittle and lessen the care they had shown her.

 _I've been such a fool…_ Her lack of social tools notwithstanding, she should have realized sooner what her actions actually caused. Her problems at the police station? Her own doing. Her troubles fitting in with her peers? Generated by her conduct.

Try as she may to find a plausible excuse for her actions, she could not escape the one true fact of the matter. She had caused hurt to those who had risked their lives to save her. Every single one of them had been present to not only see her shame and her secrets revealed. They had also stood against numerous odds to rush to her side – and with possibly the sole exception of Tatsumi, none of them actually had spoken to her previously, or had known much about her.

 _Hurtful. In my own pain, I have sought to ease my pain by passing it on to them. In case of Satonaka-senpai, that hurt seemed to have passed on to her fully, forcing a deeply emotional reaction. I must find a way to make amends. But how?_

Letting her head sink lower, she heaved a depressed sigh. _Why is this suddenly happening to me?_ She had never asked for friends. She had not wanted to be part of any social net – at least not for reasons of companionship. She had her case in mind. Her one goal: To solve the case presented and to move on to the next case.

Now a new way of solving a case was shown to her, one she had so far avoided at all costs. She was offered hands of friendship; offered to have a team of emotionally bonded peers to help solve the mystery.

In fiction this had been introduced as a basic concept to her previously, she knew. Many a time where Watson was not only _influential_ in solving a crime, but _instrumental_. The Maltese Falcon was not tracked down solo. The Name of the Rose was elaborate and run by one master of the detective arts, but even Baskerville had not acted fully on his own, even if he had rejected earthly love in the end.

Maybe that was the key. Allow some, but refute the shackles that come with it. Remain cerebral while allowing for laughter.

Naoto was unsure if she could walk that narrow path, but she was determined to try walking it none the less.

 **October 4th, 2011**

 _Walk the narrow path, Shirogane… you know you can walk the narrow part. Oh gods, they are starting up again…_

* * *

 _Again, apologies for cutting away. If something changes here on FFN to make the place feel more welcoming again, I am sure I'll post again. For the time being, I'll direct my traffic to other sites which allow authors actual freedoms and protection from bullies. If you guys would like to join me over on the other side, you're welcome to, if not, I'll see you guys when there was a change on FFN I can support again with web traffic generated by my fics. :)_

 _Thanks all!_


	24. Chapter 24

**October 4th, 2011, Afternoon.**

Naoto settled down on the couch, only to find herself all but pinned to one side of it by an overly enthusiastic Kujikawa. Amagi-senpai giggled as she found herself a spot on the floor, delicately pulling herself into the traditional seated position on her heels. From across her modest living room, she could see Tatsumi stand in her kitchen, readying up some tea.

Choosing silence for the most part, Naoto kept trying to inch herself away from Kujikawa, while the other two girls happily chatted about some occurrence or other at the school yard when they left to visit her. When Tatsumi returned, he shot Kujikawa and herself an odd stare before settling down and handing out tea cups. He poured himself some, then retreated a bit.

For the longest time Naoto found refuge in simply nursing her cup of tea, glancing at her guests and making non-comitial noises at apparently appropriate times.

The dynamic was interesting to observe, even with only these few of her new team mates surrounding her. Kujikawa lead the conversation, Amagi politely contributed… and Tatsumi was silent, observing for the most part. While both girls appeared to be similar to how they would behave if it was just the two of them, Tatsumi always changed quite a bit. It was both worrying, and reassuring to know he could hold both the passion he showed earlier, as well as the quiet strength he displayed now.

After about an hour, Naoto took a deep breath and politely took over the conversation. "I know I went about it wrong earlier," she gave Tatsumi a small nod, "but I am starting to feel rather 'stir-crazy' due to being in my apartment for days. I would also like to get a small amount of shopping done and-"

"Oooh, we should all go for a walk then and stop by Junes, too!" Kujikawa put in at once.

Amagi-senpai frowned for a few seconds, then nodded. "Yes, but then we should go together. It is a good idea to stretch out your legs, Naoto-kun, but I would rather you were not alone for that."

"Oh, no problem, Yukiko-senpai!" Kujikawa interjected before she hopped off the couch and knelt beside Tatsumi, holding on to his arm. "We have a strong man with us to protect and help us!"

"Wait, what? Wh-What's tha' gotta do with me?" His panicked eyes widened and he looked to Naoto as if to plead to a higher court.

The detective frowned at her guests. "Really, I can very easily take care of this myself. Tatsumi-kun will confirm that I was up and about earlier already."

"Sure, but we're gonna go shop for you, Naoto-kun! I'm sure Kanji will agree that stretching our legs and a bus ride or two would be fun, too! Right, Kanji-kun?"

Naoto's jaw set as she watched Kujikawa heap affectionate displays upon Tatsumi. Even if they dated, there was surely a time and place...

He finally nodded. "Okay, _okay_ , leggo, Rise, yes, I'll come." He shot Naoto a quick glance, then blushed, obviously embarrassed by the way he had just presented himself as a guest in her home. "'f course I'll come with you."

The teens rose, Tatsumi gathering up the dishes and placing them into the sink while the girls put on their shoes.

* * *

 **October 5th, 2011**

Feeling a sense of contentedness she had not in several days, Naoto leaned against the wall right beside her living room window. She could not really see much, the rain was rather thick and pelted her window in steady rivulets while the greyish light outside turned early afternoon into the dullness of late evening.

Sipping from her tea cup, she let her mind wander. Yesterday had turned out surprisingly pleasant after all. Amagi-senpai and Rise-san had not moved from her side, sure, and she could not help but be keenly aware of Tatsumi-san hovering near by as if he expecting to have to catch her. But she had been able to convince them to leave as a light evening rain had started up and it only took her pointing out neither of them had had the foresight to bring an umbrella to dissolve the group activity.

She had stopped by Junes long enough to grab a few pre-boxed _bento_ for the coming days, then hurried to the bus stop and home from there.

After days of being cooped up in her small apartment, she actually felt energy returning, possibly in part thanks to her being able to take her own life choices again and proceeding to take back her autonomy. Having had help to get back on her feet was, she had to admit now, appreciated. But now that she could prove that no more closer observation was needed, she could resume her work.

Learning more about this 'TV World' would be prudent, and she started to wonder if there may have been lasting medical effects for those who were taken there – or who entered to bring them back. An unfamiliar worry entered her thoughts at this. Was she actually worried about how these other teens were dealing, mind and body, with everything that had happened?

Naoto frowned into her tea. She did care, odd as it seemed. She had to realise that, with all that had happened, she had formed a bond that she needed to consider in her further interactions with them. It was, still being frank with herself, not an unpleasant feeling.

Her breath misted gently against the window as she sighed after another long draught of her tea. Maybe allowing herself to open up to these teens would not be so bad after all.

* * *

 **October 6th, 2011**

Naoto Shirogane was not standing leaned against the pillars of the school gate because the thought of entering the building on her own distressed her. No. She further did not feel the craving of having others who knew her be near as she re-entered the school grounds.

She still kept her cap tucked low into her brow, ignoring the excited whispers of students passing her. Gossip, the very reason she had taken such pains to ingrate herself into the school, had been the one thing she had underestimated in re-joining class this morning.

"…he's back!"

"… looks like he's been really ill…"

"..hope he reads my letter today! I wrote him before I knew he was sick…"

...

As before - till I find out what's going on here with FFN, the main work is over at Archive Of Our Own, same user name, same story name. Sorry, FFN fans. :(


	25. Chapter 25

**October 7th, 2011**

Buttoning up her shirt again, Naoto gazed into the mirror. With each button closing on the way up, she put away Naoto Shirogane and brought forth the Detective prince once more. While her carefully guarded secret had escaped, she had since discovered that she had a number of very adamant fans who refused to "believe in rumour", as they put it. The white noise between these two conflicting signals put enough of Inaba off-balance and granted her an extension to her desperate struggle to find a new identity.

Her eyes rested on her own gaze while she made the well-known motions as she tightened her neck tie. Aside from that, she saw no change in her. Her firm, calm gaze held her own eyes focused. Her posture was tall and straight. Her attire was perfect, as ever. As much as she had chided her … her new friends for not understanding that she struggled with the identity of the Detective Prince, she still needed him. She was naked without his influence on the world and she could not yet surrender him fully.

A knock on the door brought her back.

"Yes, enter." She turned to face the doctor walk in with a folder in his hands, giving her a small nod. When he indicated for her to be seated, she hopped on the low examination bed and crossed her arms.

* * *

Okay, last update here for a while. I'll be around on FFN, watching what happens with the White Knights. Till that's resolved, no more DF updates here, but the full versions of The Distance Formula; Just a Couple of Drinks and the new "Enough" series will be over at Archive of Our Own, if you rather not wait.

You guys hang in there. ^^


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